Megamorphs 5: Lose Yourself
by elektra30
Summary: The Animorphs thought that they had lost a lot since the war began – their childhood, their innocence, and for some – family. But in an alternate reality, they each lose something fundamental to their identity. Could it get any worse?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** All Animorphs characters and in-universe names, locations, weapons, and history belong to Ms K A Applegate. Story title taken from the song 'Lose Yourself' by Eminem.

**A/N:** This story is set between books #49 and #50. Megamorphs and alternate realities appear to be overused cliches, but I hope to focus more on characterisation, nuances that lurk in the corners of canon.

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

::Jake::

"_As long as we keep fighting, Visser One will keep them alive."_

Them.

My parents. Tom.

I watched as Tobias got up and headed towards his mother's cabin. Maybe he'd eventually tell her about Elfangor. Maybe he wouldn't. But it wasn't my concern. I wish I could say the war was my concern, just as it had always been, but truthfully, all I wanted to do was just roll over and die at that very moment. My heart had caved in. I was being swallowed into a deep, black hole. It didn't hurt anymore, not least because it was beyond pain.

I had lost everything. Everything that had kept me going through the war.

The motive. Tom.

The motivators. My parents.

Cassie?

I saw her ahead, walking across to Toby to talk to her.

Cassie hated the war. She had called our fighting a 'necessary evil', but deep down, she must have been torn apart being a part of this. I watched as she turned and saw me. But she didn't smile. She stared at me for a long while, before she turned and walked away.

I love Cassie. But right now, not even Cassie could heal me. If only... if only the two of us could just escape from everything. I wouldn't have to deal with this. She wouldn't have to deal with this either.

_Jake, you selfish little prick! What about the rest? Rachel! Marco! Tobias! Ax! What happened to being the leader? Where's your sense of responsibility? Are you going to let Visser One consume Earth? Are you going to let millions and billions of human beings fall prey to this invasion? How can you do that?_

How had Tobias survived this? How had he lived without a family to love him? But Tobias had grown up not knowing parental love, brotherly love. I had. I had it all. And to have it all, only to have it all taken away from you, was a greater pain than not having it all in the first place.

The rest? They wouldn't understand either. Rachel was relishing the war, every minute, every second of it. Marco was in seventh heaven with his family as one again. And Ax? Ax would have berated me for being a coward. He would never look up to me as _Prince_ Jake again. No, I don't care for that, but having Ax's respect had given me strength as a leader. He had looked up to me when he was cast into a world so foreign to me. He had given me his trust. How could I fail him?

Something was at the back of my mind. A sense of deja vu. Had I been this weak before? Had I been so weak as to wish none of this had ever happened?

But that was foolish. Things had already happened.

It was just that... just that if only... only...


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

::Jake::

My name is Jake Berenson. I'm a sixteen-year-old kid at junior high school, and – pretty much a regular kid I suppose.

More about me? Well... I'm into basketball. I didn't make the cut a few years ago, but I tried out again start of the semester, and I got in. Many people said I should have gotten in a long time ago because Tom, my big bro, was a star player. But he quit throwing hoops after some time, because he was totally into this thing called The Sharing. I've gone to a few dinners where they invite the whole family, and a social gathering for the kids at my school who joined it, but I didn't like being so sociable with all those happy souls there. So I just concentrated on my studies and training up for the team again.

Guess what? It paid off.

People say teenagers get into this angsty phase of life. Well, I didn't. I'm not in it now either. I'm pretty much happy, contented, satisfied. I don't need anything more. My family's great. Tom was a bit touchy a couple of years ago because I didn't tag along to The Sharing, but he's gotten used to my "idiosyncratic way of living my life", according to him. He did say they're starting up a basketball team at The Sharing though, like for a county match kinda thing. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad... if they do start it up, I might give it a shot. Hanging out with a bunch of basketball dudes won't demand too much sociability out of me compared to a barbecue. Tom would be pleased. We haven't been hanging out that much, but it's okay, we're cool. We still have a bunch of fun talking nonsense over the dinner table and he still calls me a midget even though I've grown fairly tall, almost reaching his height.

Social life? Well Marco's my best bud since we've been playing in sandpits, 'cos we lived near each other. But gradually, he became a lot more than a playmate – he always listens to what I have to say, and gives pretty good advice. He tends to get a bit serious sometimes, but he does know how to get a bit of fun, like playing arcade with me. Now that we're sixteen, we've moved onto more sophisticated computer games that he's got installed at his place, no thanks to his techy dad.

Then there's Cassie. She's... well you can say she's my girlfriend. We never really sat down to make it official or anything, it's just a feeling. I know we like each other. We'd be there for each other. She's a rather tough cookie, and nobody messes with her or calls her names, but I know that she's pretty sentimental inside. She tends to not care about a lot of details, but when it comes to people she cares about, she does show it. I don't know how to explain, maybe some examples in the future might make you see.

I got to know Cassie through her best friend, my cousin Rachel. Rachel's like a supermodel, tall, pretty, and blonde. You'd expect her to be some stuck-up airhead, but she's actually really intelligent. She's also pretty much the teacher's pet in every class, sometimes she's so goody-goody it's a little bit sickening. But at the same time she's so good-natured that you can't help but like her anyway.

Anyway, Marco, Cassie and I have lessons together most of the time. Right now, I was moving from history to math class. Marco was looking a bit dazed at the end of history when I wanted to ask him something, so I left him alone. He tends to get a bit zoned out at times, and the teacher would accuse him of not paying attention. But it was partly because his family situation is a little screwed up. His mum passed away when he was a little kid, and his dad turned to alcohol to solve a lot of problems, when he wasn't dealing with his computers. There wasn't much time he gave to Marco. Coupled with Marco's slightly pessimistic nature, all in all, it's a pretty gloomy atmosphere at his place.

Maybe he might cheer up with all those hyper enthusiastic people at The Sharing, who knows?

But Marco wasn't in math class with me; it was Cassie. That cheered me up tremendously. Sometimes when the teacher's back was turned, our hands would surreptitiously snake across our laps and our fingers would intertwine for a brief moment, just before the teacher snapped back again, and we'd pull back swiftly, with our eyes still dancing. Those were little moments that made me enjoy being young and sheltered, with only schoolwork and friends to handle.

There were sometimes though, that I wish I could have a chance to just venture out on my own into the wild, just do something crazy perhaps. Something extraordinary. Witness something out of this world, attempt something beyond my limits – just something totally off the record. Cassie would approve. Marco might be slightly skeptical, but he'd encourage me to do what I wanted to. Rachel? Rachel would think that would be a bad idea.

But who cares? A boy can dream, can't he?

I guess sometimes I can't wait to grow older and be able to do anything I like.

It was when I was indulging in this little thought of mine, and starting to move a little quicker, that I ran headlong into someone. I groaned, and the other person muttered a hasty apology. I stumbled back, and saw a boy with tousled dirty-blond hair stumble backwards too.

"Hey," I said. "I should be the one to say sorry. I bumped into you."

He stared at me intensely. "Jake?"

I stared back at him. "Do – do I know you?"

I didn't know this boy at all. Was he from The Sharing? Was he one of those kids in my class?

"Jake, are you okay? It's me, it's..."

Just then, a female voice called out.

"Tobias!"

The boy instinctively jerked his head to the side, though rather unnaturally. It gave me the impression of a very birdlike instinct. There was a woman walking quickly towards him, and she had a mass of shining blonde hair framing her small face. "Tobias, where have you been? We'd do the school tour _after_ you're done with the principal!"

The boy just stared at her with a complete look of confusion and amazement melded into one. "Loren?"

"Tobias!" The woman suddenly hissed, not looking worried anymore. "That's uncalled for! Even if you're angry with me!"

Now Tobias was looking extremely perplexed. Then his gaze snapped back to me. It was uncomfortable, the way he stared without blinking. "Jake, what's going on?" He looked down at himself. "I'm human... and..." He looked around, before suddenly getting quite panicked. He reached out to grab my arm, startling me. "What are we doing here? We need to get back to the valley! Now!"

"Hey hang on a sec!" I wrenched his hand from mine. "What do you think you're doing? I don't even know you!"

"Jake, this is crazy! It's the Ellimist! Crayak! Another of their games!"

By this time, there was a crowd of students who had stopped by to watch the show.

"I'm sorry!" The woman tried to pull Tobias away from me hastily. "He's been a bit weird lately. I tried to send him to school a couple of years ago but it ended very badly. The principal just told me recently that there was a vacancy, so I tried again... it looks like he's taking to the idea very terribly again!"

"It's okay..." I began, but Tobias suddenly went wild. "This is insane! I'm not going to school! Loren, what are you doing?"

"Stop pretending, Tobias! It's for your own good! I've had enough of your little make-believe games, you're sixteen, and you ought to be growing up!"

"Let go of me! Jake, listen to me... stop it, Loren!" He struggled with her. "STOP!"

There was a sudden loud slap that reverberated along the corridor. I gaped, and the students who had been staring let out a gasp. Loren was staring hard at Tobias, then at her red palm, while Tobias was gaping just like me, his hand to his cheek.

"Tobias..." began Loren. "I didn't mean to..."

With a blank expression on his face, Tobias turned and ran off. Loren yelled after him, but he did not turn back, bursting down the hallway and through the main entrance. With an exasperated grunt, Loren took off as well. I stared after both of them, completely thrown off balance by the boy's behaviour. And how did he know me? What was he trying to tell me? Go back to the valley? The Ellimist? Crayak? What was he talking about?

"Yo, Jake," called out a boy who was in my English class. Nicholas. "You okay?"

I nodded, and slowly, the crowd of students began to disperse.

"He's insane," I whispered, shaking my head. "Utterly insane. He should be sent to a mental institution, not high school."

I proceeded to math class, where class had already begun. Muttering an apology, I took my place, only to discover that Cassie was not in her usual place beside me.

Strange. Cassie is never late for class. She's always early, in fact.

I shook my head slightly again. This was going to be a really strange day.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

::Tobias::

"Tobias! Stop running!"

This was utterly insane.

"_Tobias!_"

I ran out of the school as fast as I could, even though I was never fast as a human, much less with not much practice running with legs. But I felt as if running could take me out of this strange reality, a strange reality where Loren was bringing me to school, and Jake was looking completely at home being a junior high school kid with no memory of who I was.

This was wrong. If we were out here in the open... the Yeerks would kill us. Everyone in the valley. This was not what it was.

I ran out into the school field, narrowly missing a Frisbee, and some kids yelled at me. One of them looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put a finger to the person's face, not when I was running off, gasping for breath. I could hear Loren's cries become fainter, but I refused to look back. No, it wasn't because she had slapped me, not least in a hallway full of students. It was that she was talking to me like... the way she actually seemed to _look_ at me, the way she seemed to _care_! I couldn't take it. It was so disgustingly _wrong_, it made me nauseous more than I was hurt and confused.

_Stop giving me false hope! Stop giving me hope! You don't know me at all, you never cared!_

_This is insane. _I panted as I ran and stumbled, ran and stumbled. _This is not real. Why am I getting so worked up over something that isn't real?_

Behind a huge group of students, I made a detour and ran back to the school, to find one of the corners outside the school where I used to hide in, to hide away from Andy and Tap-Tap, those jerks who used to give me the swirlies in the school toilet.

_Demorph! DEMORPH!_

Yes! To red-tailed hawk!

I willed myself to change as I ran. _Come on!_

But there was nothing. I was still running. Human legs. Human arms.

_DEMORPH!_ I screamed in my head.

At last, I dove into the shadows. I was exhausted, frightened. I couldn't demorph. I was stuck, as human. I tried to picture another morph, and the first thing that came to my mind was the Hork-Bajir, even though it would have been so utterly out of place. But I was out of sight.

I concentrated.

Still nothing.

_NOOO!_

"Arghhh!"

_This is just a nightmare._ I slapped my arm, and the stinging pain reigned. I stared at the red patch in disbelief.

Couldn't morph. My eyes rolled upwards to the sky. What if... what if this was real? All of this?

"This is stupid!" I cried out. "This is not the future, Ellimist, or the past! This is some warped reality of the present!"

There was no reply.

"Come OUT!" I yelled, frustrated.

Fear overcame me, and I could feel my eyes burn with tears.

"Get us out of here, Ellimist, or if it's you, Drode," I whispered. "We're not your pawns anymore. Stop playing games with us... this isn't funny at all..."

It was unnerving. One moment I had been in Loren's cabin helping her to tidy it up, wondering if I should actually tell her about Elfangor. I didn't know why I was helping her, I just felt like I had to do it. She was doing it too, but she never spoke, or looked at me. I always got the feeling that she didn't want to look at me because all she would have for me was not love, but pity.

No, no. _Stop it, Tobias._ I clutched at my hair. _What happened next?_

I hadn't even realised I was being transported elsewhere. It all happened so suddenly. The next thing I knew, I was being jostled about by a crowd of high school students rushing to class. The sudden burst of sound, and the movements, had all caught me off guard. I nearly flapped my arms in order to escape, to fly away, only to realise I was still human. _Run! Run!_ The adrenaline forced me to move. Then I began to run. Down the staircase. Along the corridors. It hadn't occurred to me that I knew this place and was running towards the foyer. Following which, someone collided with me, and I saw that it was Jake. Relief coursed through my veins when I had met him.

But then he couldn't remember me at all, and looked utterly perplexed as to who I was and all the things I said. Had he lost his memory? What was wrong with him? Worst of all, he looked so young, so innocent, so unlike the weary, vacant-eyed Jake who had just lost his parents to the Yeerks. This was not the Jake I knew.

Not the Ellimist. Crayak. It had to be him. He hated Jake. He took away his memory.

But if Jake had just lost his memory, why did he look like he _belonged_? He belonged to this reality. He was part of it. I was not.

Loren, too. She _belonged_. She had said I had to stop playing my 'make-believe games'.

No, I realised, _no._ This wasn't some game.

It was me. This was a nightmare for _me_.

I curled up into a ball. My human memories – returning to assault me. The uneasiness of high school brought me right smack in the middle of it again. The unhappiness of not having a mother resulted in one who cared too much for me till she slapped me in the middle of the hallway because I refused to obey her. And the fear of losing my friends led Jake to forget me.

It was a horrifying nightmare.

Rachel... what about Rachel? Where was she? Would she forget me too? And the rest – Cassie, Marco, and Ax? And were the Yeerks still around in this reality? Did they know we were humans? This was not the Time Matrix, was it? It couldn't be. Otherwise Jake would have been himself. A dream. It had to be a dream, a nightmare, not real, not real...

I pinched myself. The stinging pain did not help matters.

I took a deep breath, before standing up, shakily. Then I walked round to the side of the school building, peering onto the school field. It was empty now; break was over. Loren was gone. Where had she gone?

Irony. Jake had forgotten me, and Loren had remembered me.

Rachel. I had to find Rachel.

I didn't think I could handle Rachel forgetting me too. But I had to find her. I only became Human-Tobias for my human friends. Now that I couldn't become Bird-Tobias to escape, I would have to find Rachel, and the rest of them. Even Jake. I had to tell all of them.

Then somehow, _somehow_, they could make this nightmare disappear.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

::Cassie::

"Ellimist?" I asked, calmly. "What are you doing again?"

I was sitting in a chair, in an empty classroom that I hadn't been inside since a few months ago when we all relocated to the valley. The Yeerks knew who we were, where we lived, where we studied. We couldn't come back. And yet, in an instant, I had been transported from walking across the valley ground to sitting in this chair.

There were sounds of shuffling feet and voices outside the classroom. I sat upright. "Ellimist? This isn't funny. I'm not here for any lesson that you're going to teach."

No response. I got out of my seat, only to realise that there was a schoolbag on the ground. I picked it up and rummaged within. Each book was labelled with my name, in my own handwriting. I stared. I never had these textbooks. They were at least one grade higher than what I had been studying – back when I was still in high school.

Something was _very_ wrong.

Swinging the bag quickly over my shoulders, I darted out of the classroom and into the sea of oncoming students moving to their next class.

I had to find the others. "Ja –"

No, that was stupid. I couldn't just yell out like that. Anyone here could be a Controller. And whoever it was, would recognise Jake.

But wouldn't they recognise me too? I realised in horror. I had to morph.

Morph to something big! Crush the school, it could be teeming with Controllers!

_What?_

No, no, that wasn't the point. It wasn't about the war now. It was about my friends. Morph to something small! Fly!

I dumped my bag in the last cubicle in the nearest washroom, then morphed to fly. As the wings sprouted and I felt myself shrink, I couldn't help wondering why I wasn't as scared as I ought to have been. And what was with that earlier thought about crushing the school? That was a thought that belonged to Rachel. Not me. But strangely enough, I didn't feel as much repulsion as I ought to have. I was disgusted – but disgusted at the fact that any of those students that I had brushed past earlier on had been a Controller. How easy it would have been, just to...

Just before I lost my hands, I unlocked the door. Then I finished the fly morph at the fastest speed I could manage. Just as somebody opened the door, I flew out.

"Hey, someone left her bag here!"

_Crap._ My name was on the textbooks. Oh well, that could be dealt with later.

ZIIIIP! I darted towards the open door, spinning around insanely in circles to slow down when I was out in the corridor.

‹Jake!› I yelled in thoughtspeech. ‹Marco! Rachel!›

Those were the only three I would figure might be around. I was directing my thoughts at them. But were they even here?

I could give it a shot. ‹Tobias? Ax?›

Were any of them even part of this reality that I was in? I couldn't be dreaming... it was too real to be a dream. But yet...

‹Jake! Answer me!›

I flew up the staircase, above everyone's heads. ‹Jake! Marco! Rachel!›

Was I alone? ‹Please answer me!›

Then suddenly, I saw someone stop. At the edge of the stairway.

‹Marco!› I gasped, relief flooding my body. Or at least, the fly's body.

His eyes scanned around, but with human eyes, it was probably quite difficult to spot a fly. He jerked his head to the side, and then he fell out of step with the student crowd and disappeared down the hallway. I buzzed along, with a couple of hands waving me along irritably. Finally, I flew straight into one of the empty rooms that Marco had spotted, and upon entering it, Marco slammed the door shut and locked it. He then walked over to the door at the end and locked it. I began to demorph rapidly.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Going. ON!" Marco burst out, furiously, waving his hands about. "One moment I'm laughing about with my parents in their cabin, and the next moment I'm back in a school that thinks I'm dead!"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I found myself in some empty classroom with a school bag of books that are mine, but I never owned them before. I think we need to figure out where the rest are."

Marco swung his backpack onto the table. "Same thing. Sitting in some classroom, and books in here I haven't studied before."

"Something is terribly wrong about this," he continued, grimly, and I was a little frightened by his expression. "You know, I have a good feeling that I should have been able to say something about the Ellimist and Crayak and all that? But I don't know what to say to them. About them. At all."

"There's nothing we can say to them, or about them," I said, flatly. "They're jerking us around again."

"It's not that..." began Marco, but then he shook his head. "Okay, forget it."

But something was nagging at the back of my mind. I knew once, and only I ever knew, that the Ellimist and Crayak once played around with time and sent us back to a timeline that would have existed should Jake never have made the choice not to walk through the construction site that fateful night. My memory of that incident was hazy; I couldn't exactly remember what happened to us, but I knew that we had been part of a game those two entities were playing, and only I was allowed to remember because I was an "anomaly", as the Drode had called me. Marco wouldn't know, and I was all the more determined that this was another game. A very, very cruel game, considering that we were at the cusp of all-out war with the Yeerks. They had finally got to know our identities, and it wasn't about hide-and-seek anymore.

All-out war. Rachel had always wanted that. I hadn't. Well thinking about it, it wasn't such a bad idea after all. They were the attackers, the perpetrators. They deserved to die. All of them.

Suddenly, I froze. There were voices issuing from the corridor outside, one of which was vaguely familiar.

"...holding it on Sunday evening instead."

"Are you sure? He last confirmed it on–"

"Are you doubting me?"

"No, sir, I mean..."

"Get back to class." There was the sound of scurrying feet. Thereafter, was silence. Before I could open my mouth again, there came a sudden loud banging on the door. "Open up!", came the voice, more clearly, harshly. "Are you kids doing drugs or something? Open up, or I'm coming in!"

"It's Chapman!" hissed Marco. "We can't let him see us here!"

"Morph!" I whispered, already beginning the transformation to fly. Quickly, Marco followed. The door banging ceased, and the sound of a key being jiggled into the keyhole started. I was now fully fly, but Marco was still a mass of human and fly parts.

‹Marco, concentrate!›

‹Gee, you think?›

The door swung open. Marco, thankfully, was now fully fly as well.

"Where'd they go?" Chapman mused, looking positively furious. He bent down to look under the tables; he looked almost comical. But then I had to remind myself a disgusting slug was wrapped around his brain. That killed off any amusement I had.

‹Oh shit.›

Chapman had spotted Marco's backpack. He opened it up, and pulled out a textbook. Flipped the cover open.

‹Ohhhh shittt.›

"Marco?" Chapman frowned.

We held our breaths. As much as the fly bodies could possibly hold.

Then came something unexpected. He slipped the book back in and sighed. "I'm not looking forward to getting his father down again." With that, he took the backpack, and left the room.

‹Excuse me?› Marco sounded skeptical. ‹Did he say he wanted to see my dad?›

‹That's strange.› I agreed.

‹Strange? That's insane! I mean, shouldn't he freak out that Marco, an Animorph, is not dead and still in school masquerading as some kid? Or the fact that some kid got hold of Marco's textbook? You get what I mean?›

‹Yes.› I began to feel chills, even in my fly body. ‹I get what you mean.›


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** All things Animorphs are the sole property of Ms KA Applegate.

**A/N:** This story will cycle through the point-of-view of all the Animorphs, so you'll see all of them coming into play soon :)

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR**

::Marco::

‹Let's get out of here.› I could feel fear pumping into my fly body.

‹Yeah.› Cassie agreed.

We zipped out of the classroom. Chapman had already disappeared down the hallway. Now we had to find Jake, Rachel, and if possible, Tobias and Ax.

‹JAKE!› I yelled. ‹Dude, if you hear me...›

‹Marco, they might not even be in this school.›

‹Cassie, don't you get it? This is like some reality whereby we continued on as high school students. That's why we're in school now.›

‹But what if somehow it's only the two of us who continued?›

‹What are you talking about?› I stopped moving forward, my wings still buzzing non-stop.

‹This could be like... some reflection of what would happen – if we just gave up fighting or something.›

‹And why wouldn't Jake and Rachel be part of this?› I demanded.

But it dawned upon me. Cassie had seen what I hadn't. The way Jake was right now, or at least, had been in the valley... I had never seen him fall apart so badly before. He wasn't Jake anymore. I didn't know what it would take to put him back again. And Rachel? What would happen to her when this war was over? Or if we decided to give it all up? She belonged in this war. If it was taken away from her...

‹This is sick!› I snarled. ‹I don't give a damn, I just want to find Jake now!

‹Okay,› said Cassie wearily. ‹Let's get out of here. To the valley.›

‹No, not to the valley.› It came to me very clearly. ‹We're high school students, Cassie. The Yeerks here don't know that we are Animorphs. We're still living where we are.›

‹Oh.›

‹To the barn.›

‹To the barn.› Surprisingly, Cassie was just going along with whatever I said. That tone of neutrality was unnerving. I thought she would have been clambering to find Jake and Rachel more than I would.

‹Okay.› I took a deep breath. ‹Jake? Rachel? If you guys are there, get to Cassie's barn. As soon as possible. Forget masquerading as students. Just get out of here.›

There was a pause.

‹No punchline?› Cassie asked, trying to sound light.

A punchline? I had always seen a punchline in everything.

But somehow it didn't seem to exist now. There was nothing remotely humourous about the situation we were in.

‹I'm scared to death, Cassie.› I couldn't help snapping. ‹Forgive me if I'm not being funny.›

‹Sorry.›

Something was not quite right with Cassie either, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. With a weary sigh, we zipped down the now-empty hallways, and out of the school. Behind some trees, we demorphed, then remorphed ospreys and took to the sky.

‹Tobias? Ax?› I called out. ‹Are you guys there?›

There was no response.

‹Whatever it is, come to Cassie's barn, okay?›

‹Is that you, Marco?›

There was a pregnant pause.

‹AX?› Cassie and I both yelled in unison.

‹Ax, where are you?› I scanned the clouds for any sign of a northern harrier.

There was another pause. ‹What morph are you in?› Ax asked.

‹Osprey.› Cassie circled the air a little. ‹Marco and I are flying very near each other, we ought to be highly obvious. Erm, not that that's good, but – can you see us? Where are you?›

‹I am in human morph.›

‹There he is!› I exclaimed, locating a human Ax at a nearby park. He was sitting on a bench, but he was looking rather strangely at his hands. ‹Ax, what are you doing sitting on a park bench? We're in trouble, do you know that?›

‹Yes.›

‹Something's wrong!› Cassie swooped down, and I followed suit, even though it was reckless. Two ospreys in a park? That was ridiculously conspicuous.

Cassie landed on one arm of the park bench, so I chose to be less obvious and landed on a branch nearby instead.

‹What's wrong, Ax?›

He stared at Cassie, then at me. Surprisingly, his eyes seemed to reflect a downcast expression, something he seldom managed to achieve since Andalites don't make a lot of facial expressions. "I tried to demorph to Andalite by the bushes. I can't do it."

‹You what?› I was taken aback. Ax opened his mouth to reply, but then a few people walked by, so he kept his mouth shut.

‹Ax, what about other morphs?› asked Cassie.

‹I can morph into anything else but an Andalite.› He sounded frustrated. ‹Harrier, seagull, skunk, spider. I fear that my natural body has become a human.›

‹Can I repeat that this is insane?› I exploded. ‹This is some Ellimist trick, isn't it? It's got nothing to do with a thing like the Time Matrix, because we are at the age we are supposed to be, and we're dumped back into a school and an environment which basically doesn't recognise us...›

‹No, it is not the Time Matrix,› Ax agreed, but I ignored him.

‹...we're back to anonymity, back to being students. But somehow or another, everything's changed. You're not an Andalite – you can't go back to _being_ an Andalite! Cassie, don't you find yourself different? I find something's not quite right with me.›

‹Marco, you were never right to begin with,› said Cassie, with a chuckle.

‹Your height, to begin with, is not right for your age,› Ax added, eyeing me with a neutral expression.

Cassie laughed. ‹Ax, you are improving.›

‹Thank you.›

If I had a mouth, I would frown. ‹This isn't the time to be joking around.›

Ax raised his eyebrows, a very human action.

‹We've _got_ to find out what the hell is going on here. If...› I turned to Cassie. ‹If it is really what we discussed just now, then at the very least, Tobias should be around. Right?›

Cassie did not answer me. She kept her gaze on Ax, who was muttering, ‹This is unbecoming. An Andalite warrior trapped as a human! No tail! Two eyes and two legs! Preposterous and –›

‹Okay, whatever, let's get to Cassie's barn, ospreys don't hang out in parks,› I continued hastily. ‹Morph to harrier somewhere. I don't like what's going on, and I want some answers.› I flapped my wings and got airborne. ‹I'll go ahead first and see if I can get Tobias in the woods or something.›

‹I don't think...›

But I was in the sky before Ax finished. I didn't exactly want to think about whether I was alright anymore. At this moment, I was just completely pissed off that we were being yanked around in some warped reality. Some part of me wished that it was all just a dream, but some part of me was quite sure that I wasn't dreaming at all. It was too real to be a dream.

And it sure wasn't funny at all.


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

::Rachel::

Where was I?

What am I doing here?

Darkness! Enclosed space! Help!

I let out a shriek before I could even compose myself.

The door flung open. Light flooded my vision.

"Rachel!" It was Melissa Chapman, her eyes filled with concern as she helped me out of the dark, enclosed space I had been crouching in. I realised that I had been stuck in a janitor's closet. "Oh my god, Rachel, what did they do to you?" Then she reached out and touched my forehead, and I yelped in pain.

What the... it's not supposed to hurt in a dream!

"Oh man." Melissa shook her head as she supported me to stand upright. "Rachel, I can't believe you tried to reason with those bitches! Look what they've done to you, you look so scared now!"

Scared? Me? No, I was never scared about anything! Marco called me Xena, Warrior Princess!

But... yes, right now, I _was_ scared. I was shaking, shivering. It was like somebody had punched the guts out of me.

"Those stinking girls are _so_ going to get it. Don't worry, Rachel, we'll all stand up for you. "

What? I didn't need people to stand up for me. Since when did people even _want_ to stand up for me?

Then suddenly, another punch in the guts – a horrifying realisation. What was I doing in school? I was supposed to be on the run! I was living in the valley with my mum and sisters. With the other Animorphs. What was I doing back in school?

Melissa? I stared at her. Daughter of one of the higher-ranked human Controllers in the Yeerk Empire. She _had_ to be a Controller!

"Rachel, why're you staring at me like that?" Melissa looked uncomfortable. "Are you alright? Do – do you want me to get Cassie or somebody?"

"Cassie..." I suddenly nodded violently. "Yes, please, Cassie! Get Cassie!"

Melissa looked a little strangely at me, before she let go of my arm and walked off. I stumbled out of the locker areas and peered down the hallways. Everybody was at class. There were sounds of shuffling papers and loud didactic voices coming from the classrooms.

What was I doing here? My head hurt, and I rubbed it ruefully, wincing. The last I remembered... I had been taking care of Sara and Jordan in our cabin. Jordan had been scolding me for not being patient with Mum, and I had been yelling back at her, and Sara looked like she was about to cry. I was about to pacify her when I was completely knocked out. Yes, that was it. But why would I have ended up in a school?

And what had Melissa said? Reasoning with bitches? The way she said it... it was like I had been doing something before I had ended up in the janitor's closet. But I – hadn't. And... if she was a Controller, shouldn't she have recognised me as one of the Animorphs?

She was going after Cassie! She was going to get Cassie! What had I done?

I couldn't stay here, I realised with horror. No way. They would capture Cassie or me, slip a Yeerk inside our heads, make us spill the beans on everyone else...

"No!" I whispered. Fear was pumping through my body, even though it felt a little unfamiliar to me. But it was scary enough. I quickly walked down the hallway, eyes trained on the main entrance. _Get out of here!_

I broke into a run, only to be stopped short two seconds later by something yelling in my brain.

‹Jake! Marco! Rachel!›

_Cassie?_

"Oh my god, Cassie, where are you!" I whispered. But no, she could not hear me.

Cassie was in morph, somewhere around here. She wasn't captured. Not yet.

I veered away from the entrance, slipping down the stairways. "Cassie? Cassie!"

I could hear a faint voice call out from above. "Rachel? Where are you?"

Melissa. No, I couldn't let her see me again. She would realise. I hid myself behind a pillar as Melissa made her way down the staircase. "Rachel?"

She frowned, then continued to walk downstairs. I slipped out from my hiding place and ran down the hallway. Where were the others? Jake and Marco had to be around somewhere. What was happening? Was this another intergalactic game of chess? I swear I'd –

_Priorities, Rachel, priorities!_

I ran around in search of the rest, but I couldn't find anyone. All the students were in their classes. I couldn't possibly just walk into any one.

Suddenly, another voice. But this time, in my head. ‹Jake? Rachel? If you guys are there, get to Cassie's barn. As soon as possible. Forget masquerading as students. Just get out of here.›

Marco! Okay, there was no time to panic or wonder. Cassie's barn. Except... we couldn't possibly go back to Cassie's barn! What was Marco thinking? The Yeerks would find us! But I had no choice. I would morph to bald eagle outside and then thoughtspeak to him. Maybe I would get some answers. What had he said? Masquerading as students? _What?_

I darted out of the school and banked a hard right to get to the shadows to morph. Just as I turned the corner, I banged into someone.

"Ow!" I winced, all the bruises on me acting up, stinging and pulsating with pain.

"Rachel!" came a familiar gasp.

I blinked twice. "Tobias!" A boy with tousled hair and a piercing stare came into view.

A wave of emotion suddenly engulfed me like never before. I flung my arms around his neck, my eyes immediately blurry and wet. "Oh my god, Tobias, oh my god..."

"Rachel?" His voice was now questioning. "Are you alright?"

"No... no, no..." I blubbered. "I'm not alright. Everything's not alright. It's crazy..."

"You... you remember me."

I pulled back, rubbing absent-mindedly at my tear-stained face. "Of course I remember you. What are you talking about?"

"Rachel, what are we doing here?" demanded Tobias, urgently. His face was blank, but he sounded just as frightened.

"I – I don't know! One moment I'm in the cabin with my sisters, one moment I'm stuck in a janitor's closet all bruised up! But whatever... let's go to Cassie's barn first, okay?"

"Cassie's barn?" Tobias reached out to touch the bruise on my forehead gingerly, sending tingles and aches through me all at once. "That's impossible, we can't..."

"I don't know, alright? I heard Marco call out to me to say to go there. I'm gonna question him along the way."

"Marco? You talked to him?"

"No. He must have been in morph, he was yelling in thoughtspeech. Come on, back to bird, we need to haul butt out of here!"

"I..." He twisted his face into an expression of pain. "I can't morph."

"You what?"

"Try morphing." The desperation in his voice didn't register on his face, but hearing it was more than enough. I closed my eyes to concentrate.

Feathers began to appear on my arms, a brown-and-white lattice.

"Oh man," he whispered. "So it's really just me!"

"What's wrong?" I reversed the morph before I would lose my voice.

"I can't morph _anything_!" He nearly yelled, till I put a finger on my lips. "Nothing! Red-tailed hawk, Hork-Bajir, nothing! I'm a human _nothlit_!"

"Tobias, you're not a..." I shook my head. This wasn't the time. "Okay, this is a very weird situation we are in. I'll walk with you to Cassie's barn. I'm completely freaked out."

It took a while for Tobias to calm down. After pacing back and forth in a very aggravated fashion, he finally walked out of the shadows. "Are the rest around?"

I followed suit, eyes darting all around to ensure nobody was watching us. "Cassie and Marco. Haven't heard from the rest."

"Then I should tell you about what happened just now. With Jake..."


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N:** RL is eating away at fandom life, so my next update might be slightly later. Definitely not later than a month though! Thank you to those who have been faithfully reviewing, I really really appreciate your kind words. Meanwhile, enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

::Ax::

When Marco, Cassie and I had reached the area near Cassie's barn, Cassie flew around to check. She gave the "all-clear" signal by flying into the barn itself, and Marco and I followed. We demorphed quickly as Cassie shut the doors. Unfortunately, I was demorphing to _human_, rather than Andalite, which distressed me greatly.

"Do you think the rest heard us?" asked Marco, nervously. "I couldn't find Tobias at his usual place."

"We would have to hope so." Cassie replied, grimly.

It was a little odd. Both of their personalities...

Unlike both of them, I wasn't quick to blame the Ellimist for this strange happening. For one, the Ellimist would not be able to alter people's personalities. Alteration can only apply to tangible entities, such as skills, physical features, an entire body. Time is also considered tangible, derived from squaring the third dimension. Memories are a little bit more tricky, but we once experienced that under the Drode's manipulation. Thus, the Ellimist (or Crayak, for that matter) might have been able to interfere with my morphing abilities and altered our timeline, but he would not have been alter Marco's sense of humour, for example, which seemed to me to be conspicuously missing. After all, throughout the entire flight to Cassie's barn from the school, he had not uttered a single word or sentence that suggested humour. Even when most frightened, Marco would have made a few jokes. I did not doubt my capability to understand his sense of humour after "hanging out" with him for so long, especially when he moved into my scoop occasionally.

Whatever difference was occurring to Cassie, I was still unable to decipher.

But I didn't have time to think through about the Ellimist or Cassie, as the door swung open and in walked Prince Jake with a very bewildered expression on his face.

"Jake!" gasped Cassie.

"Cassie!" Prince Jake broke into a smile. "Hey, I thought you were sick or something."

"Sick? No, I'm fine. Jake, look..."

"Oh come on..." He looked from Cassie to Marco with a look that suddenly changed into what I would perceive as an annoyed one. "Is this another of your new technological breakthroughs again, Marco? And you roped Cassie in?"

"Dude, what're you talkin' about?" Marco raised his eyebrows. I noticed that he was shaking.

Prince Jake laughed, a laugh that seemed rather out of place. "Man, I've got to give it to you. You got me out of a math class that was really bad. I thought I was gonna enjoy it, till they got some substitute teacher..." His eyes landed on me. And I was surprised to see that he was surprised. "Phillip?"

There was a short silence. I shifted my gaze to Cassie, who looked almost shocked. Marco opened his mouth, then shut it again, gesturing to me.

"No, Prince Jake." I frowned. Phillip was the name accorded to my human morph, but I had not used it ever since I stopped practice to 'blend' in with the humans. Strangely enough, earlier on, I had an encounter with a female in a human residence who had also called me 'Phillip'. It was probably a wise decision, on hindsight, that I decided silence was the best solution, and had left the residence to demorph back to Andalite. But now, it seemed that it was not a delusion on the female's part. I was about to speak further, but Prince Jake cut in first.

"_Prince_ Jake?"

He blinked. Then he chuckled. "Alright, you're the alien, dude. I get it."

"I am an..." I began, but Marco gave me a look that seemed to tell me to keep quiet.

"Jake?" Marco's voice was now laced with suspicion. "Where did you come from?"

Prince Jake rolled his eyes. "Marco, stop this game. You're lucky I actually hated that math class. If not, you would have so gotten it from me if I fail my next math test. Now show me the device that you used to put voices into my head to tell me to get to Cassie's barn. Cassie, I can't believe you agreed to assist him in this. I thought you guys were in danger or something!"

"You were in math class. Before that?"

"Marco, I was in history class with you." Prince Jake stared at him, now clearly displeased. "Hey, you've never been the one to make jokes, alright? It really isn't funny."

"It sure isn't!" Marco suddenly shouted, angrily. Prince Jake was startled and took a step back, only for Cassie to hold onto his arm. He grabbed her hand instinctively.

"Jake, you were in the valley, remember?" Cassie whispered.

"Valley?" Jake stared at all of us. "Wait a minute, what the hell are you guys talking about? And how did you all know Phillip? He just came from out of town!"

"He's a Controller!" Marco accused, wildly.

"A what?"

I wished I had my tail blade with me. Cassie turned a little pale. "Not again?"

"Hey look!" Jake exploded. "What stupid game are you playing, Marco? Is that device illegal or screwed up or something? Did you get in touch with Phillip so he could fix it for you or something?"

Marco was beginning to morph.

"Marco, no!" I snapped. But Marco did not obey. He was turning darker, shaggy hair sprouting out from his olive-coloured skin.

My eyes were on Prince Jake now. And I saw fear – pure fear and disbelief in his eyes.

"Oh my god..." He whispered, stumbling back. Cassie held onto him. "Oh my god, Marco... somebody... somebody call the ambulance or something..."

"Jake, relax," Cassie said. "Marco, demorph back, he's seen enough."

Marco was now a full-grown gorilla, sitting in the middle of Cassie's barn. He reached out with one of his big fists and crushed a wooden crate. Cassie flinched, and I found myself instinctively doing so at the sound. Thankfully there were only a few tools in the crate. Not some animal.

"Marco, that is enough!" I reiterated, firmly.

He began to demorph. Prince Jake suddenly sat down in the hay, pale and perspiring heavily. Cassie bent down as well, her hand still on his arm.

"I do not think he is a Controller," I said.

"They act pretty well, Ax." Cassie looked at me. Unyielding.

I walked before Prince Jake, and knelt down. Thankfully I had enough practice not to fall over while doing that. "Prince Jake, I am Aximili. Do you not remember me?"

"...what?" Jake rasped, completely bewildered. "You... you are Phillip! You're Rachel's and my cousin! You live in New York with Aunt Sal, and you two just came over for the summer break because your school ends earlier than mine. But you don't know Cassie and Marco at all! Unless... unless Marco found your number somehow!" He stared accusingly at Marco, who was now torn between anger and weariness.

Aunt Sal. That might have been the female in the human residence.

"Why the hell would I find your cousin's number?" Marco threw his hands in the air.

"Because Phillip is a tech geek, like way better than you?" There was a hint of scorn in Prince Jake's voice. "Dude, everytime I told you about him, you'd look jealous!"

"I don't understand..." Cassie began.

Then the barn doors swung open again. Cassie and Marco instinctively stood up, defensively. So did I.

"Rachel!" Prince Jake yelped. "Oh man, you've got to save me from –"

"Jake! Oh – oh, everyone's here! Oh my god, can someone tell me what's going on now?" Rachel looked terribly flustered. Her blonde hair, usually very neat and tidy, was in disarray. Somehow, she looked rather different, even though her facial features were still the same.

Beside her was Tobias. I felt a sense of relief at seeing my _shorm_. Tobias always "watched my back", even though with my Andalite stalk eyes, I can see in all directions. Now that I only had two human ones, it would probably be better for him to continue to "watch my back".

But I could see that Tobias looked different too. He was in human form, but instead of his usual blank expression, he actually looked a little distressed.

"You!" Prince Jake suddenly sounded startled. We saw that he was pointing at Tobias. "What are _you_ doing here!"

Rachel looked at Tobias. They exchanged a significant look. Then Rachel looked at the rest of us. "Do all of you remember?"

"The valley?" Marco asked, coldly. "The Yeerks? Controllers? The fact that we shouldn't be in school? The fact that we're still able to walk out on the streets - that _I_ still can walk out on the streets despite not existing in official records?"

"Yeah." Rachel looked at Cassie, who nodded. Then she looked at me. I nodded too, a gesture I had picked up from my human friends. Then she looked at Jake.

"Jake, you've lost your memory."


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

::Jake::

Me? Lost my memory? Who were they kidding?

"I _have_ my memory!" I nearly shouted, completely flabbergasted by the sheer nonsense that I had found myself in less than a few minutes ago. Now even Rachel was joining in. "It's you people who are acting strange!"

"No, I don't think he's lost his memory in this timeline," said Tobias. "But he's lost his memory of our original timeline. I bumped into him just now and he had no clue of who I was."

"You guys know him?" I demanded. Cassie and Marco look surprised, and I figured that somehow, they did.

"It is not really an issue of timelines. Ines." said Phillip. Had he called himself something else? "The last time something similar happened, the Drode buffered – buff. FF. Interesting sound,"–he blew on his lip–"yes, buffered our personalities and memories. Why is that now our personalities are not exactly buffered, and all our memories but Princ e Jake's are buffered?"

"That was complicated." Rachel raised her eyebrows. "But I think I kinda get it."

"What do you mean by personalities not exactly buffered?" demanded Cassie.

Phillip frowned. "Well, for one..."

"Excuse me?" I interrupted. "Could somebody please tell me what is going on?" I looked at the boy called Tobias. "Maybe we could start with you? You're a new kid in school. How'd you get to know me, or my friends?"

"Jake, this is going to sound really ridiculous," said Tobias, sighing. And then he began to launch into a story, a very, very tall tale that I could hardly believe. It involved a dying alien, an Andalite, who had given them – no, _us_ – the power to morph into any animal whose DNA we acquired. It was a defence against the Yeerks, an empire of alien slugs that had come to infest and take over Earth. All of _us_ had been fighting them for years, and eventually they discovered that we were not "Andalite bandits", but humans, and had driven us into hiding.

When Tobias spoke of the valley, I cut in. "So that's what you were talking about just now? That we had to go back to the valley?" I turned to Marco. "You mentioned it too, didn't you?"

Marco nodded. Phillip looked at me. "Does this not jolt any semblance of memory, Prince Jake?"

"No. But why do you refer to me as such?"

"Jake, you are our leader," said Cassie, a little gently. "Ax thinks you're the equivalent of an Andalite prince."

"If you say so," I replied, belligerently. "Then he can show me what an Andalite looks like."

Phillip/Ax looked a little downcast. "I am unable to do so."

"_What?_" Both Tobias and Rachel exclaimed.

"AHA!" I yelled triumphantly. "A trick! That was surely an elaborate story!"

"You saw me morph into gorilla just now." Marco eyed me skeptically. "Want Rachel to do an elephant?"

"My mind was frazzled! It was just an illusion! Another of your techy illusions!"

But just as I was yelling, Cassie began to shapeshift. I could feel the familiar panic rise in me again, the one that had overcome me when I saw Marco change into a gorilla. Then I saw my cousin Rachel turning large and grey.

I groaned, covering my eyes. When I opened them, they had gone back to normal. But I could feel myself shaking.

"Jake, we know it's hard," said Marco. "But you've got to trust us." He turned to Tobias. "Do you think you could provide some aerial surveillance?"

Tobias didn't look too happy. "Can't."

"What do you mean, _can't_?"

"He's lost his morphing powers," explained Rachel, glancing at Tobias with a pained expression. "Okay this is strange. Ax can't demorph to Andalite. Tobias can't demorph to hawk. What's going on?"

"I am able to morph to other creatures, however," said Phillip/Ax.

Tobias made a sound that sounded like a snarl. "Swell."

"You said you're a red-tailed hawk." I glared at Tobias. "So you can't prove that to me either."

"Well, if you want that much proof, morph to tiger yourself, Jake," snapped Marco. Then he looked a little hesitant. "You think he can do it?"

"Jake?" Cassie looked at me deeply. Okay, that was unfair. I never could say anything otherwise when she did that. "Think of a tiger. Orange, black stripes, with a white underside. Think of you turning into that tiger."

"I'm not..."

"Jake." Her voice was calm, and it made me feel calmer too. "Just try."

There was no harm trying. Sometimes, being the butt of other people's jokes makes them happy. Whatever makes Marco happy, for instance. He's been way too gloomy these few days.

I closed my eyes and focused on the image Cassie had conjured up for me. It felt a little amusing, but at the same time, a little uncomfortable. I opened my eyes and then chuckled.

"Guess it didn't work for me."

"Uhh, Jake?" Tobias pointed to my hands. I raised it up, and nearly yelled, if not for Marco suddenly leaping over to cover my mouth with his hand. It was horrifying! I had orange fur on the back of my hand.

"Mmmffh!" I struggled against Marco's grip, staring terrified at my hand.

"It's okay, back to human now," said Cassie, calmly. And so the orange fur receded into pink skin. But it was enough.

"Okay, this is beyond madness." I struggled to keep composed. "So if what you guys say is true... I mean, what are we supposed to do now to get back to the reality you all were in?"

"Everytime the Ellimist is involved, he would appear to tell us exactly what he wanted," said Rachel, getting a little worked up. It was a bit strange to see that, for Rachel is usually quite unruffled. "Now he gives us nothing, NOTHING!"

"Maybe we should start a little by understanding our situation a bit more," said Phillip/Ax. He shot me a questioning look. "Prince Jake, you mentioned something about Marco never being the one to make jokes, did you not?"

I didn't see what relevance that had to do with anything. "Yes, but..."

"I don't make jokes?" Marco asked, surprised. He must have not heard me the first time.

"Come to think of it, Marco, you seem to have lost your touch," said Cassie, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What touch?" I demanded.

"Marco's the joker of the group, _duh_," said Rachel. "He's always making lame jokes and inserting redundant punchlines."

There was a pause. Then Rachel's eyes took on a hint of alarm. "Oh man, I thought he would say something like that was a total oxymoron or something."

"I didn't think of anything to say to that," admitted Marco. He scratched his head. "I know I had a lot to say before, but... umm, I just don't find it funny?"

"Oh great, we're all losing it." Tobias threw up his hands. "Marco, Jake, Ax... and me? I've lost the one thing that makes me happy."

"Tobias, don't say that..." Rachel muttered. I was a little surprised at how much concern Rachel was showing for this new boy. Despite what he had just told me, I couldn't bring myself to be comfortable in the presence of someone I had barely got to know – in this timeline, at least.

"So nothing's wrong with Cassie and Rachel?" Marco asked, skeptically.

"I miss the old Marco." Rachel groaned. "We could do with some sense of humour, however lame. Something along the lines of the fact that we girls are unharmed."

"That's nice to know," remarked Cassie, winking at Rachel. Marco scowled.

"Okay wait," I cut in. "Maybe if I tell all of you what you all are like in this – this reality, save for Tobias, that is – you might be able to find the differences?"

"Good idea," said Cassie. So I began my own little tale – well, it was the truth to me, but it seemed to fascinate the others, for it seemed like while I had 'lost my memory of _their_ timeline', they had seemed to lose their memory of _my_ timeline. It was altogether complicated. I noticed however, that as I spoke, Marco's eyes became a little dimmer, Rachel's more skeptical, and Cassie's a little hesitant. Phillip/Ax had no facial response however; he merely shifted from foot to foot a little unstably.

"Cassie, you sound a lot tougher here," mused Marco, once I had finished. "And Rachel, quite the opposite."

Rachel seemed to look very uncomfortable, but only for a short while. Then she looked skeptical again. "I woke up to find myself in a janitor's closet. Melissa told me I had been whacked up by a couple of uhh... stupid girls."

"You? Whacked up?" Marco stared at her. "Umm... weren't you always like..." He paused. "...the _whacker_?" He finished lamely.

"Melissa?" asked Cassie. "Like Melissa Chapman?"

"Yep. She said she would get you to help me."

"Oh, so you guys know Melissa Chapman in your reality too?" I raised an eyebrow. "Like her dad's our assistant principal?"

"That didn't change," Marco sighed. "Nor the fact that..." he trailed off.

"So, did you say that Tom's been trying to get you to go to The Sharing lately?" asked Tobias, suddenly. There was a dark look that suddenly came into his eyes, which was a little unnerving considering his expressions were pretty much blanked out most of the time.

"Uhh, yeah?"

The rest exchanged looks I didn't understand. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Jake, The Sharing is..."

"A great place!" exclaimed Marco. "We should go visit it."

"_What?_" Rachel stared at him. Then she suddenly mellowed a little. "Oh. Oh right."

I didn't like the way they seemed to be hiding something. "What's wrong with The Sharing?"

"We had a little gathering there before," cut in Cassie. She took my hand. "It was just rather strange. Marco... no, Rachel didn't like the way it was too happy, though Marco kinda liked it."

There was a strangled noise somewhere, but I resisted the urge to stare at whoever it was, because Cassie was smiling warmly at me as she spoke.

"Cassie..." began Tobias, but Cassie smiled, first at him, then at me. "Tobias didn't really like it either. But maybe it's just him and Rachel. Maybe Marco and I can come along some other day with you."

"Cool." I felt a little more cheerful thinking about Cassie and Marco joining me at a Sharing gathering. That way I wouldn't feel too awkward either. Maybe Marco would feel happier, and Cassie would be more relaxed. That would be great.

Really great.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Apologies for the delay!

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

::Tobias::

I stared at Cassie, but she did not look at me. I knew what she was trying to do – she was trying to give Jake back his motivations for continuing the war, the very reasons he had lost back in our own reality.

Then what about our own family members?

It then struck me. Loren. She was here in this reality too. But different.

"Loren remembers me," I blurted out. "She was trying to enrol me into school..." I felt a hot flush creep up my neck. "Apparently I didn't seem to want to have to go to school for quite a few years."

Marco was still looking a bit sulky at being singled out for 'liking the Sharing', a not-so-subtle reminder that he actually enjoyed himself at the first Sharing gathering we went to a few years back. But at my words, his expression changed into a more thoughtful-looking one.

"Loren? She's here? And she remembers you?" Cassie asked incredulously, retrieving her hand from Jake and putting both on her hips. "If she's here... then – then what about Elfangor?"

The mention of that name struck me dumb. I hadn't thought of that. What if... what if he was still around?

I shook my head lightly. That couldn't be possible. If it happened, that was just twisted. _Way_ twisted.

"Elfangor?" Jake echoed. "Isn't that the Andalite who gave you – I mean, us – the morphing power?"

"He happens to be my dad," I replied, flatly.

"Oh," Jake muttered. "Wow."

"I have no idea." I looked at Rachel, who was staring questioningly at me. I reached out and took her hand. She squeezed mine in return. "I – I don't like it. I don't like to know that she knows me here." _And she'll give me reasons for me not to go back to the old reality._ "You get what I mean?"

I could hear Cassie sigh, but in front of me, Rachel nodded. I knew she would understand. She leaned into me – for a moment, the hawk in me flared, and I jerked. Rachel looked up at me, her head still on my shoulder, so I tried to take a deep breath to relax. Rachel felt vulnerable in this reality too, I could tell.

"Rachel?" It was Jake again, this time looking perplexed. "You know him well?" He jabbed a finger towards me, which made me rather annoyed.

Rachel laughed. "The way you know Cassie."

Jake didn't look too happy, casting a suspicious glance in my direction, but then he just put his head into his hands. All that information must have been too much for him to handle.

"It sounds like my parents and Rachel's are still the same as before. Before we told them the news, that is," said Cassie, who had turned to look at Marco. "Something's not right with yours, from what Jake just said."

"Yeah, my mother is still _dead_." Marco raised his fingers to make inverted commas. "For your info, Jake, my mom was infested by the top-ranking Yeerk of all time, Visser One. She didn't really die. In fact, in our reality, she's alive and free. My dad, all happy again." His voice cracked a little. "Gee, just when the happiest thing happens to me, it's gotta be taken away. And I can't even find a shred of humour anywhere to cheer me up from this depressing reality."

Jake stared at him, completely baffled.

"Again, Cassie and Rachel unharmed..." Ax mused.

A flash of memory: The first image of Rachel in this reality was her running towards me, arms outstretched, and a tear-streaked face...

"I want to find Loren," I said, adamantly.

"Hang on." Marco looked at Jake. "Is there a Sharing meeting anytime soon?"

"It's Saturday tomorrow," said Jake, warily, his eyes darting around at all of us. "Tom's getting together a basketball team at The Sharing, and I'm invited to a practice session at ?"

"Oh." Marco shrugged. "Sounds like your kind of outing. Not mine." But then he looked in my direction, and I felt like he had something more to say. Then Marco stretched. "Okay, I'm going home to find out what's my situation. Tobias can go back to find his mother. Maybe tomorrow evening we could meet here again?"

"Hey," began Jake, but Cassie stopped him. "Look, Jake, we know you're really confused by everything. At the moment, just sleep on it, alright? You can rest being a leader for the moment. We'll think about it tomorrow evening."

_Sleep on it._ The exact words Jake had used when he was describing how he had decided not to evacuate his parents immediately when the Yeerks began their search for our families. And his tone was full of bitterness. Now, Jake looked nothing like the old general he had ended up being, torn and worn. He was a confused teenager, looking suspicious and helpless all at once. Which was better?

Jake decided to stay with Cassie for a while to speak privately to her, and we felt it was best, since Cassie seemed to know how to calm him down. The rest of us trudged out of the barn. Marco immediately began to morph to osprey. It made me feel a little bitter watching him grow wings, but I said nothing. Rachel also morphed to bald eagle, and I looked away to avoid the pity in her eyes.

‹Okay,› Marco's thoughtspeak made me jump. ‹Here's the plan. We're going to do surveillance at that basketball game tomorrow. Jake's place at nine-thirty. Roaches. Flies. Whatever. I'm guessing we have to fight the Yeerks in this reality too, and maybe somehow we can find a way to get back to reality, I don't know. Jake won't know this, or he'd slip up. Cassie, I hope you're hearing this.›

"Sounds like a plan," I said, lightly. "Except that I can't morph."

‹Sorry, dude,› said Marco. ‹Either you sit it out, or you'll just be inconspicuously attending the Sharing.›

"No. I'm going to find out about my mom," I said. "Besides, I can't play basketball."

‹Man, can you stop–›

‹Leave him be, Marco.› Rachel was growing irritated.

"I can help you, Tobias," said Ax.

‹No, Ax, we need your help when dealing with those slugs.›

"I can handle it alone."

There was a pause.

‹Fine,› said Marco.

‹I'm going with him,› said Rachel, defiantly.

‹No, Xena, I need you at the Sharing.›

‹What, why? So you can use me in warrior princess mode?› Rachel's tone was challenging.

‹Shut up, Rachel. This isn't the time.› Marco's voice held a certain tension that was unsettling. ‹I have a plan, alright? It can happen if one person is out, but not two.›

‹Who made you leader?› grumbled Rachel.

‹You want to be, Xena? Go ahead. Tell us your plans.›

There was a short pause. ‹Never mind,› muttered Rachel.

Marco flapped his wings. ‹Tobias, besides Cassie already said you didn't like the Sharing. So I'll see the rest of you at nine-thirty.›

"Ax?" I asked. "If you can't morph to Andalite, where're you headed to?"

"I came from a human residence earlier on," said Ax, startling all of us. "I believe my current human self belongs there."

"I'll come with you," I said quickly. But Ax shook his head, a very human gesture. "Tobias, I believe you have a home to go to as well."

‹I'll watch over him.› Marco. In private thoughtspeak. He must have understood my concern. I bobbed my head a little in appreciation.

All in all, I couldn't morph and I actually seemed to have a home. That was crazily weird. I hazarded the guess that it would be the home where I had found Loren in, so I began to walk away from them. Marco and Rachel took off. Ax headed in a different direction. A few minutes later, however, I felt someone catch up with me, and I realised it was Rachel, in full human form.

"I decided you could use some company," she said, smiling.

I didn't smile back, but I took her hand.

"Tobias?" she asked, quietly. Just within that one word, my name, she was asking a million questions. _How are you feeling? Are you angry with Marco? Are you angry with the Ellimist? Are you angry with Loren?_ I don't know if she meant them all, but I could imagine them surfacing from her question and pounding at my head.

I gritted my teeth. "I don't know, Rachel. I really don't know."

We walked in silence. I didn't even know where I was walking to anymore, until I felt a tug at my hand.

We had reached Loren's house.

Or _my_ house, in this reality.

"What about tomorrow?" Rachel asked. "You're really not joining us?"

I shrugged. "Let me think it over."

She nodded. "Alright, just have a good rest then."

"I'm not even sure..." I began, but Rachel let go of my hand, turned me to face her, and placed both her hands on my shoulders. "Be brave, Tobias," she whispered. "Be brave. Be yourself."

I swallowed hard as I turned towards the house. She didn't know how hard it was to be myself.

Because I didn't know who I was anymore.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** The story feels a bit slowmoving at the moment, not to mention my slow uploading! Apologies for that. But as each chapter is short, I need to build up a few things first, so hope you guys don't mind. Meanwhile, enjoy (:

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE**

::Cassie::

I picked up a broom and a pan from the nearest cupboard and began sweeping up the splintered pieces of the crate Marco had smashed with his gorilla fist. At the same time, I could feel Jake's eyes burning a hole through my back.

"How did we get ourselves into all this?", came Jake's weary voice.

I stopped sweeping and turned around to face him. "Serendipity. Predestined. It's a mix of the two."

He looked skeptical. "That helps."

"Well, what answer did you want?"

Jake sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm pretty happy with the life I have now. I can't imagine having to deal with all this three years ago and not being able to enjoy the life I have now."

It was a stuffy day, but a shiver ran through me. "Jake, are you really happy?"

He nodded. "Yeah, why not? I've just managed to get back into the basketball team, my family's good, and..." he smiled a rather wide, unabashed smile. "I've got you, Cassie. What more could I ask for?"

Just then, Marco's thoughtspeech floated into my head.

‹Here's the plan. We're going to do surveillance at that basketball game tomorrow. Jake's place at nine-thirty. Roaches. Flies. Whatever. I'm guessing we have to fight the Yeerks in this reality too, and maybe somehow we can find a way to get back to reality, I don't know. Jake won't know this, or he'd slip up. Cassie, I hope you're hearing this.›

I just kept looking at Jake. Looking at sixteen-year-old Jake. Not a forty-year-old general. I wished Jake in our reality would look like this just for a short while. It made my heart ache, and I think it must have shocked present-Jake tremendously that tears were falling out of my eyes seconds after he was expounding on how great his life was.

"Cassie!" He rushed over and held me as I sank to the ground. "Cassie, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

Should I tell him? Should I tell Jake what had happened to him just before we were transported to this reality?

_Why shouldn't he know?_ An angry voice burst out in my head. _He deserves the right to know how his happiness was taken away from him by those filthy Yeerks. That way, he can go all out against them!_

But yet another voice yelled at me. _Cassie, how could you do that? You wouldn't have done that!_

Yes, I wouldn't have done that. But why? What was the reason for not telling him?

Suddenly I couldn't find a reason.

"Cassie?" Jake's thumb was rubbing circles on my cheeks, wiping away my tears. He looked terribly worried. "Cassie, are you alright?"

"N-nothing," I berated myself inwardly for crying. My palms were sweaty and my insides all queasy. Maybe I could tell him later. Just one more day of happiness. "I'm – I'm just glad you're here."

"Me too," said Jake, once again smiling. It was the brilliant smile that I hadn't seen on him for a long while in our reality. Now I wasn't sure if it was heartbreaking, or it was slightly thrilling to know that he was the old Jake again. Or at least, _mostly_ the old Jake. "At least all this weird stuff's happening to people close to me, like you and Marco and Rachel." He frowned a little. "And Phillip, though I was never _that_ close to him."

"He's called Ax, Jake," I said, uncomfortably. "It's so strange when you call him Phillip."

Not to mention that 'Phillip' didn't really exist – Ax's human morph was an amalgamation of Jake's, Marco's, Rachel's and my human DNA. Why would he exist as a real human being in this reality as a human with the power to morph?

"Well everybody in this reality calls him Phillip. If I change to uhh... Ax, wouldn't that be strange?"

Jake was right, so I just shrugged it off, snuggling into his embrace. It felt reassuring to be in Jake's arms, yet at the same time, it felt a little unfamiliar.

"That Tobias guy weirds me out, though," said Jake. "He scared me the first time we met."

"Tobias has lived so long as a red-tailed hawk," I explained. "He finds it strange to be in a mall, let alone to be suddenly thrust in the middle of the school population. It's claustrophobic, highly unnerving... to say the least. He must have been really frightened."

"So he was a red-tailed hawk, his father was an Andalite, and his mother was a human?" Jake sounded confused.

I sighed. "It's a really long story, Jake." I thought of the others doing surveillance on him tomorrow, and he, the leader of our little guerrilla group, would be unsuspecting.

Leave him alone. He needs his innocence. Freedom.

When did I start making decisions for others?

Maybe when it hit me that the Yeerks were making decisions for us. They had invaded a planet that had not given its consent, infested humans who were conned into being hosts, and infiltrated our lives.

_Die, Yeerk, die!_

And now Jake's parents were with The Sharing too. There was no doubt that he was now living in a house full of Controllers. Somehow, I felt pretty certain that Jake was not a Controller as well, but – you know, we can't entirely be sure, can we?

I shook my head slightly. My head was aching as much as my heart was now.

There was the sound of a vehicle driving through the gravel. "Cassie!"

I sprang out of Jake's arms. It was my mother. Back from The Gardens, most probably. "Mom?"

My mother. Was she a Controller in this reality, just like Jake's?

"Oh great, Cassie, you're home," said my mother, appearing by the barn doorway. Looking perfectly normal. Like I could tell. "I thought... oh, hi Jake!" She smiled brilliantly. "Nice to see you. Cassie's dad is making some great chilli tonight, care to have some?"

I thought of Ax masquerading as Jake the last time my dad made chilli, and stifled a grin. The real Jake on the other hand, hadn't tried it.

Or so, in the other reality.

"I loved it the last time he made them." Jake's eyes lit up. I had another mad urge to giggle. "I'd love to have some of it."

"Sure, but just give your mom a ring so she'll know where you are." My mom winked at me, then disappeared back into the main house. I kept my gaze on her for a while, before turning round to stare at Jake.

"You eat chilli?"

Jake laughed and slipped his arms around my waist. It was nice, though slightly awkward, because he only does so when we're seconds away from a death-defying stunt or seconds after the stunt was performed. Not that I was complaining.

"Yup, I slurped up the whole bowl the last time I was here," said Jake, grinning.

Something was gnawing within me.

The vision of Ax masquerading as Jake – it never happened in this reality. So if Ax was somebody else here with no Andalite morph, did it mean Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, the Andalite, _never even existed_?

Ax was right. This was not the Ellimist's work. It wasn't just a matter of time twisting, it was complete subversion of our perceptions. This was no ordinary game, and the puppetmaster no familiar being.

Loren was in this world, perfectly alright. But if Tobias was born, that meant Elfangor had to have existed.

So, in this reality, on the night we walked through the construction site, what happened?

I opened my mouth to ask.

Jake mistook my zoning out for confusion. His grin faltered a little. "Oh right, you don't remember."

Looking at his disappointed expression, I found all the questions bombarding my head dissipate into thin air. Instead, I leaned my head against his chest. "I'm sorry, Jake. I really am."

"It's okay." He stroked my head. "We'll just have a good dinner tonight, alright?"

"Mm."

_No, Jake,_ I thought. _It's not okay. Not at all._


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Hi, sorry about the huge delay, I've just finished a super long holiday and haven't got the time to write anything. This was written a while ago, and the next chapter still needs some touching up, so apologies that the wait for the next chapter would be a week or so too. RL is quite a pain, heh. Meanwhile, enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN**

::Marco::

I flew overhead as Ax made his way down the little suburban neighbourhood that Jake, Rachel and I live in. Apparently, Tobias as well, since he actually had a home in this reality. Our hood's just a little way out from Cassie's barn, but I get lazy most of the time so I fly over.

It's been a long time since we hung around this neighbourhood though. Especially me. I didn't have a home anymore.

But no, somebody has to play some stupid game and send me back into the life that – I didn't exactly want back. Sure, I get a house, a nice bed with a duvet and all. But I only had one parent, and from what Jake had related, not a parent I wanted.

Thanks a lot, whoever's out there.

Anyway, I was following Ax because Tobias sounded worried. Okay no, actually I was worried too. How could anyone not be? Here was an Andalite who was stuck as a human, and was living in a human house with another human who didn't know of his alien background in it. How's that for complication?

...that still doesn't sound like me, does it? Oh forget it. No, you see, the weird thing is that I can actually _remember_ what it is like to laugh, to see the problems of the world as bright, happy jokes. What was the use of looking at it through dull eyes and living in fear and sadness all the time? But now it was as if the curtain of happiness had been torn down, and I was forced to see what reality was like no matter how much I tried to snatch the curtain back.

It's not as if I never knew what reality was like. I just chose to see it differently.

Now I couldn't get those particular shades back.

Ax was now preparing to enter one of the nicer houses in the neighbourhood. It had a Stepford Wives-kinda lawn, perfectly trimmed and bright green, and a colonial feel to the architecture. He reached out for the doorknob, a little awkwardly, and turned it. The door opened easily.

_Ax-man, you had better be right about this..._ I tuck my wings in and spilled downwards, landing on the window sill of the living room. With my sharp osprey eyes that saw through reflective surfaces, I saw that Ax had made his way up the stairs. There was a rather high-pitched voice that came through.

"Oh, Phillip dear! Are you back? I've made some apple pie!"

_Uh-oh._ Did she say apple pie?

Ax stopped halfway on the staircase. I swear I saw his eyes brightened. "App-apple pie? Is there cinnamon? Cinnamonnn?"

"Yes dear, I added cinnamon powder, it smells great!" The lady exclaimed, bringing out a tray of hot, piping apple pie. Man, that made me hungry too. There was this strange tussle in me, like osprey-Marco was trying to stop human-Marco from bursting out and leaping at the apple pie. Why was I so hungry?

But oh, I suppose I couldn't beat Ax. He had practically raced down the stairs and to the dining area, salivating at the sight (and possibly smell) of the pie.

Oh boy.

"Cinnnnn-amonnnn!" Ax declared in wonder.

"I didn't know you liked cinnamon that much, Phillip," said the lady, shaking her head in exasperation. "Look at you, eating like a five-year-old!"

"I apologise," said Ax, with no hint of apology in his voice, as he took a napkin from the table. That boy was definitely getting into the human act better than we were giving him credit for.

Fine, he looked like he was settling in. Now I had my own problems to deal with.

I spread my wings and took off into the sky. The image of the lady serving Ax with apple pie reminded me too much of my mom. And guess what? She's probably still Visser One in this era, 'cos my dad is moping. I didn't like the idea that my mom was still under the control of that slimy, ruthless Edriss, or that my dad was back to his old, despondent self. And I didn't like to know that I had to deal with it all over again. Not when I had watched my dad and mum embark on a spectacular run-and-hug sequence in the mountains. (There's a classic movie that did this right? Shit, what was it?) Not when I had actually found my happiness in the midst of chaos, compared to everyone else.

Okay, shut up, Marco. Just shut up and think about where you are now.

The plan in my head was nowhere near crystal clear, but it was a start. There must have been a reason why this insane reality warp thing happened, and it had to be a big reason that involved the Yeerks. So step one was to do reconnaissance. Whatever else, like how Jake seemed to be totally out of this whole thing, and how Tobias and Ax weren't their usual selves (well, Tobias being hawk has become kinda usual), could wait.

I spotted my house after a minute or so, and headed straight for my room window. There was a slight problem though. The window was closed.

Right. I fluttered into my backyard and duck in the shadows of the roof, praying hard nobody would see me transform from an osprey into a boy.

Once I had finished demorphing, I walked up and rapped on the door.

My dad opened it. With that same, haggard look that I had thought would never come back to haunt his face.

"Marco?" He frowned. "Where's your schoolbag?"

Oh brilliant. Come on, Marco. You could crap your way out of this.

"I dropped it in a puddle in school. Sent it for drycleaning. My books are in the locker."

There. Effortless. Did he buy it?

My dad nodded and let me go in. I heaved a sigh of relief as I headed for the kitchen. I was _really_ hungry.

"Dad?" I stared at the empty fridge. "You didn't stock up?"

"Thought we agreed on pizza tonight."

"But I'm starving now!"

"Then go and buy something!" He sounded annoyed as he flipped channels.

I slammed the fridge door. "Dad, you're not going to lie on that couch all your life, are you?"

"You have a problem with that?" His tone had taken a dangerous hint. I had challenged him a few times back in those days, and he had been pretty expressive about his feelings. I mean, like with colourful words.

I threw my hands up. "No."

"Good. Now since you don't have homework, how 'bout you get down to the store and buy yourself something to eat, and get me a couple of drinks as well?"

His voice had softened into a request.

I wanted to be the one who was expressive about his feelings right now. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders, shake him till his teeth rattled, scream that Mom was not dead, she was being enslaved by the head of an alien empire that his son was kicking butt on. The same old story that had been churning in my mind everyday when I saw him this way. I wanted him to tell me that this was all a dream, that he was alright and happy with Mom in the valley of the Hork-Bajir, and that none of this was happening again.

And I wanted to shake _myself_ out of this shit.

"Okay, Dad."


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N:** This story is likely to stretch into more chapters than a usual Animorph book will.

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

::Rachel::

"Rachel, where're you going?"

"It's none of your business, Jordan!" I rolled my eyes, locking the clasp of my duffel bag. "Young lady, don't you have your own precious friends to hang out with?"

Jordan eyed me coldly. "I thought you'd like it that I trust your taste better than anyone else's."

I slung the bag over my shoulder, and sighed. "Right, I do, but I really have something on today."

"The sale's only on for today!" whined Jordan. "You promised me!"

It seemed to me that Rachel was a very compromising older sister in this reality. In fact, I felt _guilty_, Christ's sake – since when did Jordan become so persuasive?

It took me all of fifteen minutes to strike a deal with Jordan that I'd get back by the afternoon to go shopping with her. In the morning, she could take Tessie, her friend, along to pick out the stuff she liked on sight, then I'd give my opinion later. After the deal was done, I got out of the house, snuck back through the backyard and tossed my bag into an old rickety cupboard, and morphed to bald eagle. I tried not to think that it was almost impossible to do whatever I had on my checklist. Not to mention that I was feeling downright cranky from a sleepless night. How could anyone sleep knowing that everything – including myself – was just _wrong_?

By the time I had demorphed and morphed a fly behind a Dumpster near the basketball court, the rest except for Tobias were already there at various positions. Marco was about to launch into his instructions when I spoke first.

‹Are you sure you know what you're doing, Marco-boy? There could be Yeerks around this place for all you know. This could be some illusion constructed by the Yeerks.›

‹Oh, I'm not doubting there are Yeerks waiting to pounce on Jake and stuff a slug in his ear,› Marco said testily. ‹But I wanna know what's their latest project. As it is, everytime we've ended up in some screwed-up world, the only way back is when the aliens are on some mission.›

As it was, Marco was right. Every crazy situation we had been in, it was the aliens that were the keys to the puzzle. Dino-land had the Nesk's comet, and World War Two had Visser Four and the Time Matrix. Whoever put us here must have done so for a reason. Still, it was disgusting the way we had ended up as chesspieces for the galaxy. Something in Marco's voice also told me that he knew more about the chess game than I did, but after the last time he had snidely commented on whether I should be leader, I figured I should shut up. The last time something similar happened, it had been a disaster.

Not that I'm backing down against Marco. Definitely not.

‹Okay, so here's the deal: I'm betting they will try to push Jake to go to the Sharing with them after the game. So we're going to follow them there – on Jake.›

‹Wait a minute, how are we going to–›

‹Four humans are approaching by the bend. They are holding an orange ball.›

‹This is so weird. Ax, you're a fly, not an Andalite. How the hell did you see that coming b›efore we did?› I demanded.

‹I am an _Andalite_,› Ax replied, both affronted and smug. ‹I am trained to see–›

‹Tom and Jake coming from the other street,› reported Cassie. ‹Whoo–›

"Gah, hate the flies in this weather!"

‹Be careful, Cassie,› said Ax.

‹Oh right.› I could have slapped myself. ‹You guys are actually _at_ the street. Marco, where are you?›

‹Around the court, which I figure that's where you are, too. Tobias, you ready?›

‹Wait, Tobias is here?› I blurted. ‹But he said he was–›

‹How is this game played?› asked Ax.

‹With Marco in the lead and not telling us what's going on,› I said, a little angrily.

‹Yeah, Marco, you haven't told us about Tobias' role,› said Cassie, her voice thin.

‹I don't under–› Ax began.

‹He's around, don't worry. He said he's in on this.›

‹Marco...› If he was right in front of me...

‹Relax, Rachel, all you have to do is just zoom straight at Jake later.›

‹A basketball game can take up to an hour or more. That means only one hour on Jake.›

‹Don't you always like a tinge of risk, Rachel?› I swear that if Marco was human, he would be grinning right now.

_Not really_, I thought, but then Tom began to call out to Jake. "Hey, midget!"

‹He still calls him _midget_?› Marco wondered aloud.

But hearing Tom call Jake _midget_ was not humourous anymore. Back when we were ten and I was over at Jake's for Thanksgiving, everytime I heard Tom call Jake that, I would tease Jake unmercifully about it. In fact, I was taller than Jake by a couple of inches, and he had made a face at me for bragging about it. Jake later told me that the nickname no longer stuck after Tom joined The Sharing; his Yeerk had other things to be concerned about than the little brother at home. Just yesterday, I could remember us back in the valley. The look on Jake's face when he had returned from the mission at his home – it tore me apart. I couldn't feel angry or sad anymore; it was _emptiness_. If I could feel that, then how would Jake have felt then? Jake and I aren't the closest of cousins, nor was I close to Uncle Steve and Aunt Jean. But just seeing his face was a message to all of us: even if we won the war, it would come at a very, very terrible price. And even if Jake got his parents back, I doubted he would be the same boy we all knew.

Watching him walk down the street to the basketball court, a grin plastered on his face as he acknowledged the other guys with a short wave, was a painful affair. I knew the silence that hung over all of us as we watched Jake was a sign of the same thoughts we had. Taking a deep mental breath, I flew over to hover above the lot, hoping that my buzzing would not be too conspicuous.

"Hey, if it isn't your bro, Tom!" said one of the guys, a blond, enthusiastically. "So Jake, I guess you decided to loosen up a bit and have some fun?"

Jake smiled, but it wasn't as enthusiastic.

"Chill, man," said a tall, brown-haired boy with eyes set too near each other. "We're all here to relax. It's been a tough week. Gee, Tom, we've got to get our study group act back together again."

"You have a study group?" Jake turned to Tom, evidently amused. Tom shrugged, grinning. The boys started to move to various positions, when Jake seemed to have spotted someone. "Hey!"

‹Hey who?›

‹We have a guest star!› said Cassie. ‹But uhh honestly, Marco, what is Tobias doing here?›

‹Well, since he can't morph...›

‹Tobias, what are you–›

"Hey," said Tobias, with fake cheer as he approached Jake. "Heading to the mall. Your basketball game with The Sharing kids?"

"Yeah," began Jake, but the blond came up and gave Tobias a brilliant smile. "Hey man, you Jake's friend? You know about us?"

"Umm well, kind of," mumbled Tobias. "But I'm not really into the whole–"

"Social thing?" The blond grinned. "Nah, I started out as some introverted kid too. But then," he flipped his thumb towards his friends, "I met these guys. Needless to say, I am as you see me now!"

‹I feel like I'm watching a commercial,› I muttered.

_‹These Messages_ are definitely more interesting and informational,› said Ax, firmly.

‹Ax, have you been watching those–›

‹The residence I am staying at has a television set,› said Ax, defensively. ‹And I would like to add that the red-haired boy below me just pulled out something from his pocket to look at before putting it back in again.›

‹What's that?›

‹I cannot see details with these pathetic eyes,› said Ax, oblivious to a little snigger from both Cassie and I. ‹But I would be fairly sure that there were pellets in the transparent packet he brought out.›

‹Pellets? You mean like sweets?› asked Marco. ‹Ax-man, you know what it's like with you and pellets.›

‹Is that an attempt at a joke, Marco?› Cassie's sweet voice rang out.

‹Shut up, Cassie. You're treading dangerous waters here.›

Tobias had been encouraged to join the game by both Blondie and Jake. I wanted to ask him about the previous night's events, but it wouldn't do to distract him halfway. Meanwhile, I noticed Jake had a wary eye on Tobias all the time, but if he couldn't remember him, yet Tobias recognised him, then I guess it would certainly be unsettling. The game began, and Jake scored a couple of three-pointers, earning him applause from the rest. Tobias, on the other hand, was completely fumbling with the ball, but the other guys were very accommodating. I noticed the smile on Tom's face was kind of weird. Ax commented a few times on how strong human hands were. Cassie was cheering Tobias on. Marco was silent. All in all, this reality was starting to annoy me incredibly. I was having difficulty hovering around a flying basketball and four running boys. Worse still, towards the end, my fly body was itching to land on one of the sweaty bodies – it's likely a hundred times worse than standing in the middle of a male locker room after a football match.

Not that I've been there, but I can extrapolate the odour of one to many.

Just as they were playing their last round, the redhead stretched too far out to slam dunk, and ended up with an awkward tumble to the ground. The rest immediately gathered round to check if he was alright, and he was. When he got up however, something was on the ground. I saw as the redhead immediately turned around to pick it up.

"Drat the weather and these insects," said the boy, as he shook the packet.

‹Is... one of you there?› I asked.

The redhead prepared to flick the packet. When he continued to stare at it, I knew there was trouble.

‹Get out of there!› cried Marco. So it wasn't him.

‹Real flies move, so MOVE IT!› I screamed.

"I think–" Tobias began, clearly edgy by all our shouts and screams.

"I haven't really–" The redhead's hand twitched, then he smacked hard down on the packet.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: **My sincerest apologies for the huge delay in updating. RL, as usual, and the later chapters of this fic presented some problems as well. I cannot assure you of how timely my updates will be, but I will assure you that I will complete it. Thank you to those who are still sticking by reading this! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

::Ax::

All the shouts and screams ceased.

‹Oh God,› whispered Rachel. ‹Please tell me whoever it was, you're alive.›

‹It's not–› Marco began.

‹YAH-HAH! Now was THAT an adrenaline rush!›

‹Cassie? I wondered. ‹What were you doing?›

‹Taking a good look at that packet. I–›

‹What were you thinking?› Rachel exploded. ‹You could have been swatted!›

‹There's a reason why I suggested we go flies, Rachel, said Cassie, her voice strangely void of emotion. ‹We can go airborne and we've got the best reflexes.›

‹We?› Marco echoed. ‹I'm not really sure I'm with the fly on this one. Cassie, that was crazy. But apart from that, what exactly did you see?›

‹Drugs,› said Cassie, simply. ‹It's an anaesthetic we give to our animals at the Clinic to make them sleep.›

‹Three guesses what they're using it for,› said Rachel.

I wanted to say something, but at that moment, the yellow-haired boy spoke. "I think it's time we got back to the club. Dave and I have got a waterbomb game planned out for the younger kids. Say what, Jake and Toby, care to join us?"

‹A _waterbomb_?› What were they thinking?

‹Relax, Ax, it only bursts your ego, not your organs,› said Rachel.

It still puzzles me why humans often give various objects name that are not characteristic of the object.

"I'm not sure–" Prince Jake hesitated, but then Tobias cut in. "Actually I was looking for something to do to occupy my time. I don't mind."

"I thought you found them strange," said Prince Jake, staring at Tobias.

Tobias shrugged his shoulders. "I like kids."

‹Really?› Rachel sounded amused.

‹Hur hur.›

‹Oh my God, Tobias, you can thoughtspeak?›

‹Eh? You hear me? Wow, I didn't realise I could. That's a plus. Out of what has been fairly miserable so far...› He softened into a mutter.

"I thought I might wait for Marco and Cassie to be free..." Jake began.

"Naw, come on, midget, it'll be fun. When was the last time you ever did charity work?" Tom grinned.

Prince Jake still hesitated, but then Tobias said, "Okay", and the other boys began to move on. It seemed like Prince Jake was unwilling to be left out as he followed them.

‹Rachel?› It was Marco. ‹Now.›

‹Umm. Sheesh. Okay. Wow, Jake really smells good to the fly. That's absolutely gross.›

‹Keep hovering, Rachel.›

‹No kissing his head.›

‹Shit, Tobias, stop stealing my lines.›

‹Marco, you weren't even going to say them. Stop stealing _mine_.›

‹So what's up for the rest of us?› Cassie asked.

‹Remorph to birds. We're gonna do aerial surveillance,› said Marco. ‹But I'm gonna bank away and spy somewhere else. You and Ax-man can keep an eye on these fellas.›

‹Marco, you should have informed us about how elaborate your plan was going to be,› I said. ‹I do not even know what Tobias is doing.›

‹He knows,› said Marco, flatly.

With that, he banked hard to the right and disappeared behind the shadows of bushes. Cassie and I followed suit. Moments later, three birds-of-prey rose out above the canopy of trees and houses, flying apart to avoid suspicion.

‹Tobias,› I said, in private thought-speak. ‹Do you know what you are doing?›

‹Yep, Ax-man, I know.›

‹You do not know if Visser Three has information that you are Elfangor's son. You may end up being the number one target, not Prince Jake.›

‹Gee, I think I knew that.› His tone seemed to be of sarcasm, something the real Marco was very fond of.

‹Does Marco have a plan?›

Tobias' eyes gave nothing away as he walked. ‹Kinda. But it's a pretty risky one. In fact, it's everything to do with the fact that Visser Three might know me.›

‹Rachel doesn't know.›

‹Nope, and don't you dare tell her.›

‹No,› I agreed. That wouldn't be wise. ‹But have you met your mother?›

Tobias was silent for a while. Then he nodded his head slightly.

‹And did you–›

‹Ax, I don't want to talk about it for now.›

That caught me by surprise. Unknown to many, except Rachel perhaps, Tobias had expressed some desire to get to know his mother better. I expected him to be happy at the thought of being reunited with a mother who remembered him. Yet, his response...

It was not very appropriate for me to do this, because Tobias is my _shorm_ and he trusts me. But I value his safety more than his trust.

‹Rachel?›

‹Yeah, Ax?›

‹Did you ask Tobias about his mother?›

‹Yeah, but he says let's focus on this first. Why?›

‹I am not very sure that things are alright.› Even after I had thought it dangerous to tell Rachel.

There was a pause. ‹Ax, I know you want to know more about Loren because what has happened to her in this reality may mean a different fate for your brother. But this isn't the time. I mean...›

Rachel may be the most aggressive and impulsive of our group, but sometimes, her perceptiveness amazes me.

‹Please,› I interrupted her, ‹think of an excuse for me.›

‹You want to shadow her?›

‹Yes.› I flapped my wings harder, for the thermals were dying off once we drifted over the roads. The headquarters of The Sharing was immediately visible after a bend. ‹For Tobias, if not for me. I feel that he is hiding something.›

‹Umm...› Rachel sounded a little flustered. ‹Gee, I don't know, you'll have to fake something. After all, everything in this reality's warped. That's the only way to escape Marco's suspicion.›

‹Fake something?›

‹Well...›

I wasn't able to think of a better solution than what Rachel had suggested, so I decided to risk it. Rachel told me where Tobias lived, and it was fairly near where my residence was. Slowly, I put the plan into action. Part of my wing melded away into a human arm, and I could immediately feel the gravitational force of Earth pulling me down.

‹AAAHHHHH!›

‹AX!› yelled Cassie. She was swooping towards me as I spiralled downwards. I had spied a few bushes below that were far from human groups, and would better cushion my landing, so I tried to flap towards it. Marco was yelling too, and Tobias was frightened. Rachel was yelling as well, but she couldn't do much considering she had to follow Prince Jake.

‹Ax, hang on!›

I hit the bushes before Cassie could reach me. But I had tried to make it as soft a landing as possible, and I was quickly morphing into human. Or demorphing, but I do not really like that idea.

‹Ax, are you alright?› Marco demanded.

‹Ax-man?› Tobias wondered.

‹I'm fine,› I said, rolling off the bush. My arms and legs stung a bit, because the twigs had scratched me, but it was easy to heal by remorphing later. ‹This is distressing. I do not know what happened.›

‹Are you suffering from some morph problem?› asked Cassie.

‹Ax, you can't do this mission if you're going to morph into human randomly before one hour's even up!› Marco was getting agitated.

‹I don't feel well,› I said, putting a hand to my head. ‹My head hurts.›

‹Marco, we've both had similar out-of-control morph experiences before. It's dangerous. Ax, you should go back.› Rachel was playing along. I was already thankful that she hadn't insisted on coming along; now I was really grateful.

‹Do you want me to accompany you?› No matter how different Cassie seemed, she was still very concerned for the people around her.

‹It's okay, Cassie, I can manage. Everyone needs you.›

‹We've entered the building,› announced Rachel. ‹Marco, what next?›

‹People have _got_ to stop smiling so widely here,› said Tobias, edgily.

‹Cassie, we've got to go. Ax-man, I'm sorry, you've got to sit this one out. There's no way I'm letting a William Roger Tennant incident happen again.›

‹You actually remember that guy's name?› Rachel asked incredulously.

‹You just made me recall you were once a cockatoo who crapped when he lost control, Marco,› Tobias added snidely.

‹Shut. Up.›

‹I will go back to my residence and think about the possibilities as to what is wrong with me. I will not interfere with the mission.›

‹Thanks, Ax. Come on, Cassie.›

I watched as one osprey rose from the bushes to join the other in the sky. Once they were out of sight, I headed back to where my residence was. But I didn't reach it. Halfway through, I hid behind what is known as a Dumpster in an alley, and morphed into northern harrier once again.

Then I headed for Tobias' home.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Managed to plan almost all of the story out, so updating should be quicker from now on! Hope you guys are having a good start to the New Year (:

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

::Jake::

I've been to The Sharing before, but today, everybody seemed particularly chipper. Tom was saying hi to everyone he met and introducing me to them. The other boys whom we had been playing b-ball with, Matt, Dave and Cam, had left to help make the waterbombs. Tobias was asked to join them, but he seemed really uncomfortable in this place and insisted on staying with me.

He's a really weird kid.

Tom brought me to the cafe where I bought myself a soda. Tobias didn't want anything; he kept twitching his head slightly, as if there was something bothering his ear.

"Dude, are you okay?" I asked, when Tom left us to join the others in the lawn.

"I'm – fine."

"You don't like crowds, do you?" I grinned.

Tobias shook his head. "I think I'm gonna go to the gents." Then he saw me opening my soda and lowered his voice. "Don't consume anything they give you, alright? Including that soda."

"What?"

"Just listen to me."

I didn't like the way he was being so suspicious and paranoid, but when he left, I put my soda on the table and walked out to the lawn instead. There were people hanging balloons from trees, putting out bright-coloured tables filled with candy jars, and of course, those who were filling the waterbombs in pails.

"Hey, Jake!" Matt waved at me. "Wanna join us?"

"Sure," I said, and walked over. In a few minutes, everything was complete. The sound of children yelling and laughing grew louder, and there were a few Sharing kids bringing a bunch of eight-year-olds onto the lawn. After about half an hour of games, I retired back into the building, laughing and trading jokes with Matt and Cam.

"Hey, midget!" Tom was entering another room. "You wanna check something out?"

"What?" I followed him, only to enter a room that was more like an office boardroom of sorts. "Wow, what's this?"

"It's where we discuss our events and come up with ideas to lobby for or stuff to organise, like the one for the kids just now," Tom flipped his thumb back out, "we know how to have fun and also make sure it's all done really properly. I mean, I just wanted to tell you–"

He leaned towards me. "–that we're not some fancy club that y'know, only plays all day and all that kind of stuff. It's a really good place to meet friends, learn responsibility, give back to society... it's all those things you like to do."

I chuckled. "Well, not boring meetings, but – I must say, I'm pretty impressed."

There was a sudden buzz from somewhere around me; I jerked instantly, then the buzzing got louder.

"It's on your shoulder," said Tom, his eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he looked so intense and so – so menacing that I was a little taken aback.

"Relax, Tom, it's just a fly!"

"Yeah, pests. Stay still."

The buzzing stopped.

"Drat. Lost it."

"I'm cool."

"Let's go out and meet Matt and Cam again," said Tom, quickly hurrying out of the room. Before I followed him, I took a quick glance around the room. Shiny long table, chairs, neat little pinboards, posters... one of the posters caught my eye, but before I could think more about it, Tom was ushering me out.

"You want another soda? Or a sub, maybe?"

I was hungry, but then I thought of Tobias' words, and a strange sensation tingled at the back of my neck.

"I'm cool, thanks."

"Really? I mean–"

"Tom?" It was Cam. "Look who we found in the back room."

Matt and Cam were holding Tobias by the jacket. Tobias was trying his best to worm his way out of their grips, but it was obvious he was no match for their strength.

"Hey, let him go!" I didn't know why I suddenly felt defensive towards a guy I didn't know and hadn't the faintest idea what he had done. But it just didn't seem right that they were holding him that way.

"The back room?" Tom frowned. "Dude, what were you doing there?"

"Uhh... I got lost."

"The gents is wayyyy in the front," said Cam, strangely cold compared to the hearty redhead I had known earlier. "And you couldn't have taken that long unless–"

"I had a stomachache, then I took a wrong turn, okay? I'm terrible with directions."

"Don't wander off like that," said Tom. "We're a friendly club and all, but some of our members prefer privacy, and the back room's their private area. Intruding on those areas means intruding on their privacy, and that's not funny."

"I'm sorry," mumbled Tobias. Matt and Cam let go of him, and he brushed his arms ruefully.

"I think we'll be heading back," I said, staring at Tobias. "I'm a little tired out by all the activity just now. The kid I was playing with sure had the energy of a Duracell bunny."

"Aw c'mon," said Tom. "I'm sure you're hungry. We're gonna have a roast for dinner, it's gonna be awesome!"

"Yeah, I'm manning the roast, I could get you guys the juiciest pieces," offered Cam, suddenly sounding really friendly again. "Cool?"

"It's okay..." Tobias began, and winced.

"Still suffering from that stomachache?" asked Cam. "We've got meds in the pantry."

"No, thanks," said Tobias, hastily. "I, err, get allergies to certain kinds of meds."

"Then at least something to eat? God, you look pale."

Tobias shook his head, a little too violently.

"Well, if he doesn't want to, then it's cool," I said.

Cam's smile disappeared. "That's not cool, man, we're trying really hard to be friends here and you're treating us like strangers?"

Tom immediately put a hand on Cam's shoulder. "Chill, Cam. Let him be."

Cam shot him a dirty look, but Tom held on. I was beginning to get rather uncomfortable with the way Cam was acting. You would think Tobias might have been more freaked out, but the dude was staring at Cam in this strange piercing way that wasn't going to get him any brownie points. Eventually, I managed to convince Tom to let me bring Tobias home, because maybe the stomachache was making him feel really weird. Tobias did a fairly good act of twitching a bit more to show the discomfort, so Tom eventually let us go back.

"So they're just going home like this?" I heard Cam ask, as we approached the exit. "You don't want to press them to–"

"They'll be back soon."

I didn't have much time to ponder about Tom's cryptic reply, because Tobias was walking ahead of me.

"Hey, wait up!"

He didn't answer. Just kept walking on.

"You didn't have a stomachache. You went into that back room on purpose. Why'd you do that for?"

He still didn't reply.

"What the hell are you trying to do here? What's the whole thing about not consuming anything they have?"

"We need to get away from here. Fast."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Tobias spun around so sharply and wildly that he nearly fell over. "Let's just go home. You know," he cocked his head. "_Home_."

"I don't get what you–"

‹He means Cassie's barn.›

"Whaattt?" I spluttered, taking a step back. "What – where – Rachel?"

‹Hi, cousin. I was the buzz.›

"You're... God, was that fly–"

‹Take it easy, Jake. We're all watching you.› It was Marco, weirdly enough. ‹Just go back to Cassie's barn. Tobias will take a different route. No questions, just follow.›

I've never been big on leadership and all, but for some reason, it seemed strange to be following directions from other people. Even stranger when the person isn't in human form and talking in your head. Everything, since the day at school when I met Tobias, had gone completely wrong. My friends were telling tall tales about aliens giving us the ability to change into any animal whose DNA we absorb (what?), my cousin was an alien, my brother was acting a bit strangely...

I wasn't about to argue now, but I was starting to get angry. As Tobias and I parted at the cross-junction, my mind began to swirl with all kinds of questions and conjectures. But none of them mattered as much as my wish that this whole thing was just a dream.

Or rather, a horrible nightmare that I wanted to wake up from.


	15. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

::Tobias::

They knew who I was.

It was so obvious when I stepped into that back room. Three of the guys were playing poker cards there, and when I opened the door, they froze upon setting sight on me. One of them was even gaping.

"You're–"

They had to be high-ranking Controllers. Of course, Visser Three couldn't allow his minions to know anything about Elfangor's son. What if he turned out to be some street urchin? Which was the very persona I assumed before. This time, Marco wanted me to take a different approach.

And here he was, right before them. Walking straight into The Sharing. The son of War-Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. The Visser had to be notified.

Well, that was as much as I churned up in my head as the guys began to stand up.

I muttered an apology and slammed the door behind me. But I couldn't run anymore. Standing before me were the two guys I met at basketball earlier. I thought right then – _this is it._ They're bringing me straight to the Yeerk pool for infestation. My mind was racing with the plan Marco had outlined for me, and adrenaline was pumping through my veins to get me fired up for all the massive amounts of morphing I could possibly...

No, wait, I couldn't morph. The massive amount of _running on two feet_ that I might have to do.

Swell.

"Hey dude," said the redhead, Cam, his eyebrows knotting together very tightly. "You're not supposed to be hanging around here. It's against the club rules."

"I – err – didn't know," I mumbled. "Was just looking for the gents."

"You just walked past it," said the other guy, Matt. "And it was a clear sign."

"And the sign on that room," Cam pointed at the back room with his thumb, "clearly says no entry, for members only. Were you trying to sneak around?"

I didn't try to protest too much; I merely gave them a weak glance and clutched at my stomach. Some part of this was a nauseous reminder of Andy and Tap-Tap, and I braced myself for worse things to happen than a toilet bowl swirly. When they hauled me up in front of Tom and Jake, I almost wanted to tell Jake goodbye.

Strangely enough, they let me go. Or at least, Tom let me go. Cam was seething with rage when I was allowed to leave with Jake, but he couldn't do anything.

"You didn't eat or drink anything they gave you, did you?" I asked Jake, as we hurried back to Cassie's barn. Jake wasn't looking pleased one bit; of course, not when we hadn't told him anything and kinda just gatecrashed the whole Sharing thing and ruined quite a bit for him.

"No." And he stuffed his hands into his pockets, lips pressed together. At least he was trusting us. Even if he couldn't remember anything about our reality, at least his instincts were pretty much the good old ones we had depended upon time and again.

‹Marco, what now?› I asked privately.

‹I'm guessing Tom's going to put another bait out for Jake to join. But something's not quite right. I mean, although Tom is biding his time, he seems to be quite eager to get Jake to join The Sharing. But why? He's not some bigshot in the community, he's just a sixteen-year-old dude!›

‹Jake's not the point, isn't it? I'm the one who–›

‹No, Jake _is_ the point. Tom, Cam and Matt? Those people had no idea you were Elfangor's son. It's obvious, otherwise they would have kept tabs on you before you could even enter the back room. Only those in the back room knew who you were. So up till just now, even when Tom let you guys go, he had no idea who you were.

‹Aren't you even curious about the people in the back room?›

‹I think Tom's behaviour is worth looking into...›

Marco and I discussed a bit more, but by the time we reached Cassie's barn, and the rest had demorphed, there were more questions to be dealt with. Jake looked like he wanted to begin, but it was Rachel who started ranting.

"Marco, this is insane! What made you so sure that Tobias would be recognised by those in the exclusive room? What made you even sure that Visser Three knows about him? And also the whole point about him being recognised? Now what? You're throwing him right into the pit of Yeerks!" She huffed and sank into the hay bale.

I threw a 'I told you so' look to Marco, who rolled his eyes.

"I get what she's saying," said Cassie, arching an eyebrow at Marco. "We went along with this plan thinking that we were going to get something out of it, but instead, you risked Tobias' cover."

"What's wrong with you guys?" Marco demanded, throwing his hands in the air. "You're getting angry when we've walked a step closer!"

"Closer to what? To damaging the relationship between my brother and I?" snapped Jake, all of a sudden.

"And risking Tobias's life," added Rachel.

"It really wasn't nice that I rejected his offer like that, just because of a dude," Jake jabbed a finger at me, "whom I don't even know, who tells me that I shouldn't eat or drink anything they give me, and fakes being sick!"

"Jake! You–" Rachel's eyes flashed.

I had to tell myself: _Jake doesn't remember. He doesn't remember anything._

"They had drugs with them," I said, quietly. "At any moment, they could have drugged you."

Jake's eyes widened. "How could you have– oh. That packet Cam was holding?" He scratched his head. "You guys were sure?"

"I was the fly on the packet," said Cassie. "No mistakes."

"AS I WAS SAYING," Marco cut in, "we've walked a step closer, so Jake's fine, Tobias's fine, and we're going to move on to Step Two."

"You call me your leader, and then you don't fill me in on what's going on?" Jake asked, angrily. "You send my cousin to spy on me and treat me like – gee, I don't know, Marco, I feel like I'm your chesspiece!"

"I'm not trying to control you!" Marco glared at him. "But if we had told you, you'd have been edgy and blown our cover!"

"Next time, at least fill in the rest of us who're supposed to be carrying out your plan then," said Rachel, folding her arms.

Marco opened his mouth to argue, but Cassie put her hand on his shoulder. "Marco, I know you're trying to get things done quickly because you want to get out of this reality. Out of all of us, this reality is the worst for you."

"Really?" I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but Rachel's sharp eyes landed on me. I averted my gaze.

Cassie ignored me. "But we're a team. And we're a team who've lost a lot of our bearings. We can't afford to be divisive. You need to let us know what's on your mind, and not just act upon it straightaway because you can see the A to Z line right before you."

"I have to agree, Marco," said Ax, all of a sudden. This whole argument must have been irritating him. "It would have been nice to be sure of what we were doing this for."

Marco shrugged Cassie's hand off his shoulder, but I could tell Cassie's words had gotten to him. He sat down, pulling his knees towards him. "So are you interested to hear why we've walked a step closer?"

"Because we've alerted Visser Three to Tobias's presence?" Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Yes, and we know that for a fact because Tobias said his mom mentioned meeting a woman called Aria last week who was responsible for hooking Tobias up with our high school. Even though he's supposed to be this super antisocial kid who was thriving on homeschooling."

"Homeschooling?" Rachel stared at me. I shrugged. "What else did your mu – I mean, Loren, tell you?"

I pretended as if I was going to answer her, but Marco cut in anyway. "To enlighten Jake, Aria was Visser Three in morph back in our reality. Tried to masquerade as some cousin of Tobias's to lure him to their side by reading Elfangor's letter to him."

Jake raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Good for him.

"But how can you be so sure that Aria in this reality _is_ Visser Three?" asked Cassie.

"She gave my–," I sucked at my bottom lip, "She gave Loren a Sharing card. But apparently my alter-ego tore it up in a fit of defiance. Loren was ranting about it yesterday."

I could sense Rachel was still looking at me, but I resolutely refused to meet her eyes.

"The whole key to this mystery lies with Tobias's life, don't you think?" Marco continued. "How can Loren have Tobias if not for Elfangor? Clearly if Tobias was recognised at The Sharing, then they know he is Elfangor's son. Why is Tobias homeschooled? Haven't you realised; all of our lives, except Tobias's, are the same as it has been _before_ we met Elfangor. My mom's dead, my dad's grieving. Jake and Cassie like each other. Tom's with the Sharing. Rachel's got her same kid sisters. See, if it was just a manipulation of our lives from the time when we met Elfangor, then Tobias should have been in school along with us. Also, Loren would have been blind and amnesiac."

"Maybe, I should be more concise and say that, the key to this mystery lies with the presence of Elfangor. If we can trace clues to where he is, then maybe he can enlighten us to what this whole shenanigan is about."

No one moved or said a word.

Eventually, Cassie ventured. "Tobias... haven't you asked Loren about this?"

"It's not that easy!" I hadn't meant to snap at her, but just thinking about the way Loren was treating me made me angry. "What am I supposed to do? Ask her if I had an alien dad?"

"Tobias..." Rachel began.

"You all have families!" I burst out. "Good, intact families! And when I crave for one, this crazy reality actually gives me one, I should be happy, right? But no, I have to feel bitter, angry and hurt that this is what I've always wanted, but it's not a world I belong to. I don't want to resign myself to an illusionary world!"

None of them would understand. None of them except Jake, but he had forgotten the pain already. Or rather, this Jake had never known the pain.

I had to bear it alone, once again.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: **A huge apology for the utterly long wait as I was preparing for my examinations. Already working on the next chapter, so hope it'll be up soon! Thanks for stopping by to read, I appreciate it (:

* * *

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

::Cassie::

Everyone fell silent at Tobias's rants. A nearby eagle let out a ferocious caw, but Tobias's instinctive reaction of glaring hard at it shut it up.

Jake threw up his hands. "I don't know. I'm not a leader here. You guys make the decisions. I'm tired of having to deal with this."

"Jake..." I whispered, but he refused to meet my gaze. I couldn't imagine how horrible it must be for him to meet up with a bunch of his friends and end up realising that they were all psychos believing in a psycho reality.

"It's my brother there," he said, teeth gritted. "It's my brother you guys are talking about, and you're saying an evil slug lives in his brain and we're supposed to get rid of those slugs, even if it means having to kill him, right?" He looked up around at us. "Is that what it is?"

"Yes," said Marco, simply.

"Bullshit!" Jake leapt to his feet. "All this is just bullshit!"

"Jake, will you just–"

"You're all liars, that's what you are! Screw this!"

And he stalked out of the barn.

In the midst of the silence, I was sure that everyone was thinking the same thing as me – how Jake had joined the fight against the Yeerks for Tom. He had even been infested by the Yeerk that had controlled Tom before, and had access to all of Tom's memories – sweet, bitter, miserable, horrific. Jake had told me before every single one of his nightmares involved Tom, whether it was Tom killing him, or him killing Tom. And always, at the last moment, the real Tom would fight for control, his true expressions of fear and terror leaking through to cry out, but one of them would be gone before they could do anything. That sense of helplessness, said Jake, was the worst feeling ever.

Now he was once again rendered helpless, in this new dimension we'd opened up in his world.

"I think I shall return back to my residence," said Ax, quietly. "I fear I may stir some unwanted emotions in the woman who is supposed to be my mother if I return too late."

Marco groaned as he left. "Ax should stop being the model human kid when none of us are."

"Tobias," said Rachel, in a low voice. "Can I talk to you outside?"

Tobias looked less than willing to have a private conversation with Rachel, but when she turned to walk, he followed suit.

Marco was left lounging on the hay bale, his hand over his face. Then he removed it.

"So it's just you and me," he said, arching an eyebrow at me.

"Marco, that plan was just – look, it made a lot of sense, but I think you should have at least given one of us the head's up."

"Sure, tell Rachel about it and she'd ban me. Tell Ax about it and he'd be after Visser Three behind our backs. Tell you about it and you'd have stopped me too because this is not fair to Tobias and it will endanger him and I'm putting all of us at risk and yada yada yada..." He trailed off, realising that he had gone a little too far as he met my gaze. "Look, Cassie, I took a risk all right? I don't like that i'm getting shit for the discovery we just made. And right now, we all just need to cool down and think this through rationally to find a next step. I'm sorry I didn't plan that far ahead okay, but it was a gamble worth taking to find our way to this point."

Then Marco got up and left the barn as well.

This was turning into a horrible day. Well, honestly speaking, I thought Marco was right. Some risks were needed in order to get to the next step. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins now; I felt like I had to take action. None of the others were ready, and I needed to get them started. Then it hit me. Hadn't Marco said that the key to this problem was Elfangor?

And there was only one person on Earth who could have the possibility of knowing more about Elfangor during his time on Earth.

-.-.-.-

I had only been to Tobias's house once before, and that was actually pretty recent. We had convinced Loren to touch the morphing cube and allowed her to escape via bird morph before the Yeerks came descending upon the house. There was nothing but a half-wrecked house left. Yet, it was in full white glory below me now, complete with a tiny little garden beside the porch. Two bicycles were parked against a small bench. Something inside me twisted as I thought that this would have been Tobias's life if nothing had happened to Loren. Not in a tree in the meadow, eyeing prey and competitive predators, or flying into Rachel's bedroom when he got lonely at night.

I circled for a moment before flaring my seagull wings and landing upon a tree just outside one of the upper window. I could hear Loren's voice coming from there. A visitor, perhaps?

The reflection of the glass made it hard to spy, so I had to flutter to another branch. The good view I got revealed that Loren was actually on the phone. Her eyebrows were furrowed, but eventually they loosened up and a smile tugged at the edge of her lips.

"...really glad that he's taking a step towards it. It's been so difficult all this while to even get him to go out of the house, let alone talk to other people. It's surprising, really, but it must be the good work of your members. Yes, yes, I would like to, actually, if you don't mind? Oh, that's so kind of you. Yes, I'd love to go down to take a look."

She fiddled with the telephone cord.

"No, he isn't back yet. But when he is, we'll make our way there."

Loren's smile grew bigger.

"We're really grateful, my son and I. Thank you, Aria."

I nearly fell off the branch.

"Yes, he shouldn't take too long. I'll be there at five. Thank you."

No, there was no way I was going to let Loren go to The Sharing, nor let her drag Tobias there once again to meet Visser Three in Aria disguise. Something had to be done immediately! But what? Where was Jake when I –

I didn't need Jake. I could do this. _Come on, Cassie._ _Think of something!_

I fluttered down from the branch and began to concentrate hard.

Minutes later, I summoned up all my courage to knock on the door.

Loren opened it, a look of surprise forming on her face. "I'm sorry, you are...?"

I looked left and right, then back at Loren, who was now looking extremely suspicious. "My name is uhh... Christine. Yes. Umm. I know your son, Tobias."

Loren's eyes widened. "You do?"

"I met him at The Sharing just now."

Her look relaxed a little. "Oh, hi. Oh, he isn't with you?"

"Um no. He went off with a couple of people. I just wanted to tell you something though. Can I come in? I'm not going to do any harm, I promise."

"They all say that." Loren chuckled humourlessly.

"Look, they might come after me for saying this," I said, in a low voice.

Loren stared at me like I was an idiot. Well, I was. I was just banking hard on the fact that I was in some fake reality and that somehow, _somehow_, revealing my identity like that wouldn't be –

Okay, what had I just done?

Loren ushered me into her living room, but left her door slightly open. "I'm not taking chances," she said, folding her arms. "Now what is it that you have to say?"

"The Sharing? It's a sham. Your son looked like he was having fun, but it's just a cover. They _make_ you feel like you're having fun."

"I'm sorry?"

I tapped my foot impatiently. "They do _all kinds._" I pretended to look furtive. "You know, like coke. Weed."

Loren muffled a gasp with her hands. "What? That's not the –"

"Not the impression you got? They never tell you outright, do they?" My voice was shaking. Honestly, the once meek and shy Tobias could act tough street kid better than I could, even though he spent more time as a hawk the last few years.

"What makes you want to come here?"

"I – I think your son looks like a good kid," I said hastily. Thinking on my feet was never my forte. "I just thought – "

"Wait, how do you even know where he stays if he's not home yet?"

My frustration was mounting. This was a really bad idea; I should have gotten the King of Crap Marco along with me. It was only then that I realised that I was making cloudy judgements that seldom happened in the past. Worst of all, I had been ranting at Marco earlier for making decisions on his own. Guilt soon snowballed into anger. "Look, I'm just trying to –"

"Get out of my house," said Loren, equally angrily. "You're just one of those hooligan children who spy on others and try to bullshit something to make people frightened. It's stupid, childish and a complete waste of your time!"

She grabbed me by my shoulders, but I tried to resist. "I know about you, okay?" I cried out. "I know that your family is devoid of a father figure..." I jabbed in the direction of a photograph where there was only a half-smiling Loren and a sullen Tobias. "But – but it's not because his father ran away or that he died or that you two divorced!"

Loren glared at me. "Don't play mind games with me, young lady, or I'll –"

"It's because his father is _not even human!_"

It was a terribly huge gamble to take. I knew the rest would kill me if they were here. But when I saw Loren's eyes widen and her grip on me slacken, I knew I was playing my cards right. For the moment.

Her lips began to tremble. Then finally, she asked weakly,

"How did you know?"


	17. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

::Marco::

Everytime I walk away from Cassie's barn, it's never a good feeling. It's always with the feeling that we're going to get ourselves into some deep shit, or that we've just pulled ourselves out of deep shit and know that it's not the end of that shitpile. This time, it just sucks even more because I can't even say something more original other than 'shit'.

I'm not trying to be defensive; in fact, I accept that I was being too reckless for my – no, our own good. But luring Visser Three out by alerting him to our presence was the next best thing we could do. There was nothing, _nothing_ to suggest how we could get ourselves out of this shitty mess, so I had thought hard and long – yeah, the whole A to Z thing. It's a strength and failing of mine, I know. I'm tired of knowing that, actually. I thought I was done having to feel miserable about being ruthless because the aim had always been about frying Yeerks and nothing else.

Who am I kidding? Nobody could ever realise how much – back in the old reality – I was blaming myself at night for planning well and ensuring we had a backup team or something to watch Jake's house or to get his parents to the Hork Bajir valley that day, instead of waiting to the next. Nobody could ever realise how much it freaking hurt to see Jake transform into a completely different person within a matter of hours, because I knew that the boy who was my best friend would never, ever return. And now that I saw him like that in this reality? It just freaking hurt even more. I knew Cassie was upset too, along with everyone else being frustrated. But we had to get on with this – we had to continue to find out ways and means to subvert this reality, even if it meant going back to a time when Jake was torn and wrecked.

I walked past the street leading down to my house. And the next.

I wasn't even sure why I suddenly felt like I should visit it. The place where it all began. It was like an invisible force tugging at me.

An invisible force filled with questions: Did Elfangor land there? Did we visit the construction site that night? Did Elfangor meet Loren? How did the Yeerks come?

Actually it was not so much all those things, because I wasn't feeling very logical at the moment. I just wanted to go because I needed to remind myself that it was all still real. Even though this was a different place, reality, or just some warped game some deity is playing, I had to remember that I could still get killed. All of us. And that would mean no going back to wherever we came from. Sure, that wasn't a better reality, but at least we were more than halfway in the fight against the Yeerks. Now just felt like we were back at square one, not to mention that we were all not the same kids anymore.

I think I've just stated a hundred ironic statements.

It wasn't long before I found myself staring at the exact place. The abandoned construction site – well actually, what used to be an abandoned construction site. In its place was a sprawling megamall with neon lights flickering irritatingly all around its edges. The crowd was good, just like the other mall that we always hung out at. I made a mental note to check the other one out soon – we'd all been too caught up with the whole not-being-ourselves and Jake-meeting-Sharing-Yeerks thing to really size up the environment.

Everybody was just walking around on a regular weekend afternoon, not realising that the ground they stood on had heralded the beginning of their nightmare.

I walked into the mall, cringing a little at the loud Westlife music they were blasting. I mean, seriously? Westlife? Did they really think "Flying Without Wings" was going to inspire anyone down here? It sure wasn't inspiring me.

Starbucks. The Gap. Banana Republic. Ahh, Cinnabon. Ax should never know there was one here, especially since he was stuck being a human. Neither should Rachel know that The Gap was dangling a huge sign with 30 percent sales. Tobias would kill me if I let her know that. Although, given that she was probably currently grilling Tobias about the whole birdboy situation, I think he might be slightly relieved if she was distracted.

It's terribly frustrating to find something witty out of a depressed mood. I felt like I needed to head to the pharmacy and demand for Tylenol and Prozac because my head was hurting so badly and I was in a terrible, terrible funk.

McDonalds. I wryly thought that I'd never be able to order a Happy Meal again without having the urge to yell, "With extra happy!".

Radio Shack.

No.

No, it couldn't be.

I backed into somebody who gave me a vicious glare. Muttering my apology, I backed up against the railing and stared hard.

Of course it could be. In this place, everything was just screwed up. So screwed up that I could see the perfect picture of David and his family shopping at a hardware store, all three of them smiling, laughing, _intact_.

I don't know what got into me. But the next thing I knew, I was pushing past the throngs of people and heading towards that treacherous snitch. I reached out and yanked his jacket, pulling him towards me. David gasped; his father's strong arms were pulling me off him, but I held on tight.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, boy?" David's father roared.

I was shaking with rage as I held on, but David shoved me backwards into the table of equipment. Gasps rose all around, and the next thing I knew, my arms were being locked tight by two people.

"David, do you know this boy?" demanded his father, incredulously.

"No! He's crazy!" David stared at me in complete perplexity. "Who _are_ you?"

"Who am I?" I sneered. "Maybe you should ask yourself that, you piece of scum!"

"Hey, watch your words, young man!" David's father grabbed my collar. "You don't go around pushing people like that and calling them names. Get me his ID, someone, I need to call his dad or mom or something."

"I don't have a mom!" I yelled. "And don't touch me!"

"I'm getting security!" cried the Radio Shack dude.

"He must have escaped from an institution!" David's mother shrieked.

"You're insane!" David shouted. "I don't even know you!"

I wasn't calming down, but it wasn't just because I was angry at seeing David. It was because he was human again, with his model family which you know, _I_ had helped to wreck because _I_ somehow let him get away with having the blue box and eventually, selling it off to Visser Three, who launched an army onto his home and took away his parents. It was because his parents were here again, alive and uninfested – or at least, I thought – and he had a whole family while I still didn't get one here. He was _happy_, damn it, human and happy. This was so bloody wrong on all accounts that I just wished if it wasn't the Ellimist's good work, that he'll somehow stop time now and take us all back to the Hork-Bajir valley where I at least knew that David would no longer exist in our minds and I had the complete family.

"Damn it, where's the security?"

I should have it good. Not him. Not that weasel, liar, jerk, scumbag. Exploiting other people's happiness by morphing their son and thinking he could get away scot-free.

I was being so selfish that it was hurting so badly. Suddenly, I went limp. I didn't even put up a struggle anymore when they dragged me out of the store. They let me go when they realised I wasn't fighting; I just turned and walked away, away from all those stares, away from the profanities David's father was hurling at me, away from David's half-angry, half-perplexed gaze.

If only walking away from this reality could be this easy.

Once I was outside, I hid around the corner and peeked out as David and his family left the mall. David's father was ranting on and on, presumably about the psycho who had just attacked his son. The acrid taste on my tongue lingered as David leaned against his father and was rewarded with an arm around him. People like him did not deserve this. But this was what he would have become if not for me, and it should have been best.

If I were him back then, how different would I have been?

_Logic, Marco, logic!_

I took a deep breath. David didn't know who I was, and his family was intact. This meant that I had never met him in this reality. But that didn't lead me to anywhere – we were all different here. Our family lives may be the same, but we were different kids. Jake had joined the basketball team in this reality; our paths had now diverged, so it made sense that David didn't know me.

But something was nagging at the back of my head. I couldn't figure out what, and that irked me immensely, adding fuel to the already raging fire within me about David having a good life now.

‹Marco?›

I swivelled around so fast that I nearly banged against the wall. "Ax?" I whispered.

‹Is that...?›

"Yes," I said, bitterly. "Yes."

‹Marco, we have a more pressing problem. We can settle David later.›

My senses were tingling. "What?"

‹Cassie, specifically.›

"What about Cassie?" I was halfway morphing into osprey once I had spotted the circling northern harrier above. But my heart was starting to pound even more than when I had discovered David.

‹Let us hurry. I will tell you on the way.›


	18. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

::Rachel::

"Don't look at me like that."

"Then how do you expect me to react? Just tell you, hey Tobias, it's okay, this reality sure sucks for you and I'm totally sorry about it. Is that what you want?"

He spun around and glared at me. "Look, this isn't so easy-"

"Hell, Tobias, it isn't easy for _all_ of us!" I grabbed his sleeve, which must have startled him considerably because his arms started to move awkwardly. "We don't have time or energy to throw pity parties for you, so you've got to stop trying to take things into your own hands and thinking that you can work this out on your own! Why the hell didn't you tell us earlier that Visser Three's actually interfering with your life?"

"This isn't my life!" yelled Tobias. "This - this is the life of some kid who's three times more messed up than I could ever be! He's got a mother and a roof over his head but all he knows is to mope and angst and keep to himself! I wouldn't wish that upon myself anymore than I wish to go back to the days when I was a human punching bag! All my life I've tried to make my existence known in the subtlest ways possible, and this kid? He just doesn't want to exist!"

"Take your volume down a notch," I hissed. "If you didn't realise, you're _still _moping and angsting and keeping to yourself!"

Tobias was shaking with anger as he continued. "I read his diary. He doesn't like anybody. He doesn't want to care about anybody. He doesn't even like his mother." He laughed bitterly. "Get that? He doesn't even like his mother."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, so he isn't you, and you aren't him. Fine. But the only way we're gonna get out of here is if we recognise the fact that this _is_ the life we're living now and we've got to understand it well enough to figure something out. And you figure it out and don't tell anyone? Thanks a lot, man, we appreciate your contributions to this fight, 'cos you just wanna get back to reality and we all don't."

I jabbed a finger into his shoulder. "You're not the only one who thinks this isn't the life you _want_. But this isn't some alternate reality that we can _choose, _get it? It's not an option. We're getting out of here no matter what."

Tobias sank onto a nearby bench and buried his head in his hands. When he lifted his head, his eyes were red and shining.

It's been so long since I saw so much emotion in his eyes. Usually, it alternates between cold and ruthless yellow hawk eyes, and steely blue human ones. Both were just as good as making you squirm because they'd be fixed on you hard and long. Yet now, I could see weariness, bitterness, rage, sadness - and helplessness. Helplessness that I recognised I had, too. In this reality, even if we were the same people – apart from Jake – we were all searching for the things we wanted, and the things we lost. I, for the most part, just wanted some sense of knowing what the hell was coming next. I hated not knowing that and I hated feeling upset and scared because of that uncertainty.

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

"Don't be," he replied, cracking a bitter smile. "You're right. I guess it just sucks. It's like my fate's been decided a long time ago to always have a hole I can never plug."

"You think it's because we took a different route? Like made one single choice that changed all this?" I balked at the idea. The butterfly effect. The Ellimist had once taken us on that lesson and it continued to haunt me in my nightmares - that older version of Rachel as a Controller, laughing cruelly about Tobias as a barbecued bird. God, that was just insane.

"I don't know..."

"Tobias, what else do you know? What did you find out while you were at the Sharing?"

"I... wait, do you hear that?"

There was a mild dissonance in the distance. I strained to hear it, but soon, it just got louder and louder.

A siren.

Tobias stood up as flashing lights came into view. A string of at least three cars, along with a police one, swerved round the bend.

"Hey look, it's the boy!"

"Oh crap," said Tobias.

"It's that Cam guy!" I hissed, as the men got out of the cars. I grabbed Tobias's hand and yanked him off the bench. "Come on!"

"Hey!" Cam yelled as we took to our heels. "Stop them!"

"Haven't - run - in - _years!_" Tobias gasped, stumbling along. At the rate he was going, Cam and company were definitely going to catch up.

"We've got to split up!" I huffed as I ran. "You keep running, I'll distract them." What? What did I just say? Really?

"No!" Tobias's eyes widened, but I was already pulling my hand out of his grasp. "No, Rachel!"

"GO!" I hissed, pushing him on. Then I waved at the pursuers. A few of them came my way, and I ran as fast as I could. Swiftly, I pulled left into a lane with a row of shops and then into one of the alleys. Hiding behind a Dumpster, I began to concentrate hard. _Come on, come on!_

"Where'd she go?" One man asked.

"Alright, heck the girl! It's the boy I want!" And Cam proceeded to launch into a series of expletives ironically detailing what he thought of people who talked too much.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a mouse scrabbling against the wall. The image only grew sharper as I shrank. Feathers rippled down my arms, and before my toes turned into talons, I was already flapping my way up into the air.

I shrieked a bird cry, startling all the chasers to look up. I took a deep mental breath. Then I dove.

"Holy crap..."

"AHHH!" I raked one guy in the head and he fell to his knees. But I was heading for Cam, who had turned back in horror.

"TSEEEW!"

I yanked myself right, the Dracon beam narrowly missing my left wing.

Oh my God.

"TSEEEW! TSEEEW!"

"ANDALITE!" Cam yelled, who was so agitated that he didn't care that he was yelling it in the middle of a suburban neighbourhood. "Surrender yourself!"

_No, I'm not doing that,_ I thought. For some reason, adrenaline was pumping into me like never before - and it wasn't even a heady rush sort of adrenaline.

It was a _fear_ sort of adrenaline.

"TSEEEW!"

‹AHHHHH!›

‹Rachel!›

‹Run, Tobias!› I was on the verge of completely freaking out now; there were too many Dracon beams to dodge! Worst of all, I had a six-foot wing span and no thermals. What should I do now?

Left! Right! Left!

"TSEEEW!"

‹I'm gonna dieeeee!› I shrieked.

Tobias didn't reply - he was probably too busy running.

"Hahaha!" Cam crowed, raising his Dracon beam once more. "You die, Andalite!"

I summoned up all of my courage, tucked my wings and dove straight at him. It was insane; I was a bullet!

"TSEEEW!"

The beam ruffled my tail a little as I swerved round, talons raked out.

Cam didn't even have time to react. The sheer exhilaration was still showing on his face as I swooped down and snagged the Dracon beam out of his hand.

"GET IT!" Cam screamed.

I just kept flying higher and higher, farther and farther. I couldn't take it anymore; I was going to _die_ in the crossfire if I stayed just one millisecond more. _Die._ I couldn't die! No!

"What about the boy?"

"SPLIT UP, YOU FOOLS! That boy's together with Andalites for sure, what with the will Elfangor drew up mentioning that kid's name. Visser Three definitely wants him!"

The will! Elfangor did draw up the will then. But what did this mean...

‹Rachel, where are you?›

‹Tobias? Oh my God, Tobias, are you okay?› I just kept flapping. I couldn't fly back. No. Tobias had to be safe. He had to be-

‹I'm okay. I think. I don't see them anymore. Heh, I'm still surprised these skinny legs can still carry me far.›

I mentally heaved a sigh of relief. My talons raked open, and the Dracon beam fell from my grasp.

‹Rachel?

‹I'm okay,› I said. ‹Okay.›

It took me a good full minute or so to finally turn around and head back in search of Tobias.

It seemed that Cam had run in a completely different direction and so had his men. I skimmed above the rooftops, trying my best to locate the familiar dirty-blond mop.

‹Tob-›

Something was following me from behind. I angled slightly, but there was nothing.

‹Rachel? Where are you now?›

I found Tobias scanning the sky with two fingers. I was about to reply, when suddenly, something hit me on the head.

‹Ow! What the-›

‹Rachel?›

Then it all came. It was like a flash of _deja vu_ - the impact, the sharp pain from the attack, the explosion of colours before my bird eyes, the loss of strength in my wings that led me to spiral wildly downwards, the sheer, sheer panic - and then it all faded into a mass of black.


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Short chapter for now! Thank you to anyone who still sticks by this story... I've been dragging the chapters out for far too long and I sincerely apologise for that - my RL has really eaten into fanfiction time quite badly. It does make understanding the story quite challenging, since you're likely to have forgotten what went on in the earlier chapters :( Nevertheless, I'm still plodding along and promise I will finish it (: Still quite a long way to go though, but the action is beginning to heat up already! Enjoy (:

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

::Ax::

‹You've got to be kidding me.›

‹No, Marco, I'm not kidding,› I replied gravely. ‹We must hurry.›

Marco and I flew towards the direction of Tobias's home. I feared that by the time we reached there, it would be too late. Why Cassie had decided to take the risk was beyond my understanding - at least, beyond my understanding of what I knew her to be.

This was a terrible game the masters of the universe were playing.

‹What's wrong with Cassie?› Marco raged. ‹She's supposed to be the most sensible one! What possessed her to go and find Loren?›

‹I have no answer. I had expected her to be doing surveillance like me, so I did not bother her when I saw her perch on the tree outside the house. And then I thought she had left. Little did I expect her to-›

‹It's not your fault, Ax-man. Cassie's landed us in hotter soup than I did.›

Marco had been reckless in making decisions on his own and he had been reprimanded for it. Yet, secretly, I appreciated his efforts. He had tried to find the logic of the situation, and the best option we had was to find out if Tobias had really been the son of my brother Elfangor and his wife Loren. It was true then - in this reality, Tobias was still Elfangor's son. However, it was clear that some things did not change, things that were further back in the past, such as Tobias's birth and Marco's mother being 'dead' and Tom being part of The Sharing. Some part of us was changed, however, and that seemed to be part of us since the beginning of our lives here. After all, why would I have a 'mother' on Earth, or assume human form as my dominant nature, if I had been born an Andalite?

I had a lot of thoughts about the 'mother' I had - the woman Jake had called 'Aunt Sal'. But that would be reserved for a later time. Right now, it was my brother who was occupying my mind.

Marco's actions had pointed out that Elfangor was the key to solving part of this mystery, and that was why Cassie had taken it upon herself to find out. So had I, to be honest. I had to admit that it was both thrilling and terrifying to think that my brother could possibly be alive, that his fate had been altered just like mine. Whether or not we were truly brothers in this reality did not matter to me; all I wanted to do was to see him once again.

My brother. Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. The finest Andalite warrior.

‹So did you manage to hear what Cassie was saying to Loren?›

‹It is rather disturbing, but Loren apparently still knows that my brother was an Andalite.›

‹What?›

‹Cassie, under the guise of a Sharing member, had asked Loren about her husband's status, to which Loren had said he was dead. But when Cassie let out that she knew he was an Andalite, Loren was shocked.›

‹Oh. My. God. What the hell was Cassie trying-›

‹That is not all. Loren tried to cover up, but Cassie questioned her further on allowing Tobias to mix with The Sharing when they are a Yeerk front. Loren then looked horrified.›

‹Do you mean to say...›

‹Loren does know of the Yeerks.›

‹Which means she didn't have that accident.›

‹Marco, that is actually a very important point. I have a conjecture that this reality that we are in is a result of a _kithi maral.›_

‹Kitty what?›

‹_Kithi maral._ It means an unexpected incident has occurred to change what was supposed to happen. Of course, this is all part of legend - even the Ellimist or Crayak should not be able to do this. Before this unexpected incident happened, everything was the same as what you have experienced in the old reality.›

‹Ookay... but that's not true. We have different personalities since birth. Jake confirmed that I am a humourless person since time immemorial. Which... sucks.›

‹I refer specifically to experiences, such as your mother's death. I am still not quite sure of the personality differences. But I'm concerned that Loren will be hunted down by the Yeerks now that she knows that 'Aria' is one of them.›

‹This is all still quite... hey wait, look!›

I slowed down. Northern harriers have extremely good eyesight, but for once I wished that it had failed me.

‹No shit,› said Marco. ‹Please tell me that isn't her.›

Below us, was Tobias's house. A vehicle with a visible red lamp above was parked outside, and there were two men clad in white carrying a white board with a cloth covered over the shape of a human body. I have seen such incidents on television before, and I believe it's always known as an 'emergency'. Although nothing really emerges out of anywhere, I know that this leads to the next scene, which is often the hospital.

‹Is Loren having an emergency?›

‹Loren's at the door,› said Marco, and I could tell that he was frightened. So was Loren, who was standing by the doorway, shaking. ‹That person - on the stretcher - I think it's-›

‹Don't go down, Marco.›

‹What?›

‹We already have Tobias and Cassie's covers blown. It is not wise to expose ourselves.›

‹Ax, do you know what this means? Cassie's been knocked out! She could be-›

Then, from behind Loren, there came an 'emergence' after all.

‹Visser Three!› I hissed. He was in the guise of Aria, and he/she put his/her hand on Loren's shoulder. I had an urge to swoop down and kill that beast immediately. But we could not take the risk. Already, one of us was down.

The men had put the board into the back of the van.

‹They're going to infest her!› hissed Marco.

‹We will follow it. Hopefully they will lead us to the Yeerk Pool.› I couldn't keep the disgust out of my voice as I uttered the last two words.

Marco hesitated. Then he said, ‹Okay, I'm staying on them. You go get the rest. We're definitely gonna need reinforcements.›

I held back as Marco flew ahead. Then I made a turn and headed towards Prince Jake's house. As I flew, the earlier scenes I had watched at Loren's house played back in my mind. Before Cassie had arrived, Loren had been at her desk reading a book. Beside her was a stack of big books, and they were a mix of subjects - design, business and generic human mental illnesses. There were also scattered sheets of half-designed papers, which seemed to be about an event - like a carnival. I cannot be sure; humans have strange ways of communications, including that of paper design. Nevertheless, Loren was working hard; occasionally, she pulled a piece of paper towards her and began sketching. It was then when the telephone rang, and it was Visser Three pretending to be Aria.

Following the conversation, Cassie had rung the doorbell.

It was all extremely confusing and complicated, but somehow, as I turned back and saw the last of Loren, her expression of terror had morphed into that of anger once the ambulance left – and it felt as if a little piece of the puzzle had clicked.

_Elfangor, brother, give me the strength and courage to overcome this, and the wisdom to find the way out._


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N:** In return for the few-weeks hiatus, here goes two chapters! Hope you all enjoy (:

* * *

**CHAPTER** **NINETEEN**

::Jake::

I slammed the bedroom door behind me and dove into my covers. I was shaking – shaking with anger, fear, bitterness, confusion...

What had happened to my friends? Who _were_ these people? Why were they so unfamiliar to me? What game were they trying to play – let's face it, this isn't funny at all, okay?

"This isn't funny at all!" I yelled into my pillow.

"Midget?"

The muffled voice on the other side of the door made me spring up from my bed.

Who _are_ you?

"Midget, are you okay? You and your friend seemed kinda out of sorts today."

I tidied up my hair a little before I opened the door and saw Tom staring at me with concern.

Or maybe, it was the Yeerk in his head faking that concern.

I gave myself a mental slap. _No, Jake, you're not falling for all of that crap Marco and Cassie have been feeding you. It's all just a dream. A freaking stupid, horrible dream._

"I guess he was just uncomfortable with the way your guys handled him. He's a bit – eccentric. Like he's been homeschooled and all for quite a bit," I said, hastily.

I was speaking up for a guy I hardly knew, against my brother who had been my backing for the last sixteen years.

Tom raised his eyebrows. "Oh, okay."

"Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's cool. Say, what'd you say if you come along again next time to The Sharing? I mean, without your friend, since he's obviously not feeling cosy with us. I could tell you were having a lot of fun with the kids and the barbecue and all that."

"Well, Tom, I –"

Just then, the phone rang. Immediately, Tom had shot across the hallway to his room to answer it. He spoke one-word answers before he hung up, and came back to me with a strange smile on his face.

_Strange – what? Jake? Hello? You're suspecting your brother of being up to something?_

"Hey, actually..." Tom winced a little. "I think Cam, Matt and I were a bit too harsh on that Tobias kid. I mean, the Sharing is about acceptance and I haven't really walked the talk. We should call him over too, find out what's bothering him and making him so uneasy and stuff like that. I think he could do with more friends."

Before I could try to make sense of his turnaround, my mother yelled from downstairs,

"TOM! WHAT HAPPENED TO MOWING THE LAWN! ANOTHER TEN SECONDS, AND IT'S DOWN BY A BUCK!"

Tom rolled his eyes. "COMING, MOM!"

Then he looked back at me and gave me a fist bump. "See you later, kid. Remember to bring Tobias along the next time. Maybe this Saturday."

For a fleeting moment, I thought I saw his eyes flicker with something, but he had turned around quickly to head downstairs.

I backed into my room slowly, then locked the door. I came face-to-face with my mirror, and then I scanned myself up and down.

I was Jake Berenson, sixteen years old, a _normal_ kid.

I closed my eyes. I remembered what Cassie had told me.

"_Think of a tiger. Orange, black stripes, with a white underside. Think of you turning into that tiger."_

The familiar itching sensation behind the back of my hand came back. I opened my eyes to see tufts of orange fur on my skin.

"Damn it!" I hissed, trying to pull at the orange fur, but _god damn_, it _hurt_!

"Argh!" I sat down on my bed, heaving. This wasn't supposed to be happening. How could I be able to morph – into a tiger, no less – when I hadn't been blessed with any kind of morphing capabilities? Tobias had said something about a blue box, and I'd never seen or heard of anything like that in my entire life. So how could I...

I stared at the orange fur, then slowly, I fingered it.

How could this happen –

Unless I had been from the same reality as the rest?

"But you don't remember anything," I whispered, turning my hand over to see a slight shade of orange on my palm. I concentrated again, and the orange receded into pink skin.

"I'm going mad."

I sat back on my bed again and stared at the mirror. There was no denying this was happening anymore. The feeling of the fur on my skin had been too real to ignore.

I could feel my lips trembling. This wasn't supposed to involve me. It wasn't supposed to involve Tom.

They – they had mentioned something about how if it came down to the wire, we would have to...

All of a sudden, an image floated into my mind. Within a second, it disappeared.

I blinked. Where had I seen that before?

Then I remembered. When I was at The Sharing touring around with Tom, in one of the rooms, I had caught sight of something on the wall. It was a poster filled with bright colours encouraging people to join The Sharing. It shouldn't have struck any other person, but somehow the feeling of déja vu when I saw it was so overwhelming. The later events at The Sharing had erased it from the front of my mind, but now, it had suddenly resurfaced – in a very strange apparition sort of way.

The poster was about an event three years ago. Three years ago, I had seen this poster somewhere else. But not in a bright space. It was in a dimly lit place.

I ran to my bathroom and bent over the sink. Nothing.

I clutched at my chest. What was _that_? I had been perfectly fine the entire day, and just thinking of that poster in a dark place made me feel like bile was pushing its way through my throat. I was getting goosebumps.

I splashed water on my face. This was no game. This felt like somebody was messing around with my mind, and I definitely wasn't liking it one bit.

‹Prince Jake?›

I grabbed a towel to wipe my face as I dashed out of the bedroom, scanning wildly for the voice.

‹Prince Jake, it's me. Outside your window!›

I opened the window. "Philip?"

‹...yes. I –›

"Oh, uhh, sorry, Ax..."

‹Prince Jake, we must hurry. Cassie is in trouble.›

I jerked. "What?" Cassie? In trouble?

‹I will explain on the way. I need you to morph peregrine falcon now. Please hurry!

"Okay, uhh, what _does_ a peregrine..." I quickly switched on my desktop. "Sorry, this will take a while to start up..." I bent down to fiddle with the modem.

Within seconds, there was somebody standing next to me. I nearly started upon seeing Phil – no, Ax – fiddling with the computer keyboard like he was some sort of – well, Philip had always been a computer geek, but I'd never known he could...

"Wow, you just hit the Yahoo page without having to dial in."

"I have reconfigured the network with the keyboard," said Ax, a little haughtily. Then he keyed in 'peregrine falcon' in the search engine. "Can you picture this?"

I stared at the picture of the falcon. "I can become that?"

Ax was starting to shapeshift, so I figured there was no time to lose. If Cassie was in trouble, I had to save her.

I concentrated hard, and began to feel a strange itch ripple through my skin. Imprints of feathers were beginning to form, and my face was starting to protrude. I nearly wanted to reverse the morph, but then I thought of Cassie and that she might be in those Yeerks' hands, and in no time, I was duck-waddling across my room, many times smaller my original size.

‹This is... cool. I can – see. I mean, I could see before, but this is – whoa...›

‹Prince Jake, we must leave now.›

I snapped myself out of my daze. Ax flapped his way out of the window, and I spread my wings and lifted myself off the ground. I could _not_ believe that I was flying, but the fear in me was now cancelling out any kind of awe.

‹First things first, can you – not call me 'Prince'? It sounds totally weird.›

‹Yes, Prince Jake.›

‹Ookay. Now what the hell has happened to Cassie?›


	21. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

::Tobias::

I tried to stop myself from shaking so badly, but the human body experiences fear the way no other creature does. Or at least, it definitely lets fear get to its system as compared to a red-tailed hawk.

I'm not a religious dude, but I was praying really hard that Rachel had somehow flown to safety.

Gingerly, I stretched out my legs and looked around carefully. I stood up slowly and brushed my pants down. Then I looked around to see that I was hiding in a rather big lawn. In fact, it was a lawn of a small society building, not a house – it was...

It was the backyard of The Sharing.

I took a deep breath. The irony of it all. Those guys were out to nab me back to The Sharing, and I had just landed in their grounds.

‹Rachel?› I tried once again. No response.

Well, then. I sat back down behind a bush in order to collect my thoughts and wits. Not running for a couple of years makes you feel like you're a big chugging machine when even moving your legs, let alone running for your life. I was exhausted, frightened, and worst of all, horribly, horribly confused.

I wasn't even that bothered about the thought of Elfangor – my father, yes – at this point in time. What really bugged me was Loren. The way she had treated me thus far was really puzzling. It hurt, in some way, because she was showering upon me the kind of care and concern I knew Loren in my reality would never show me. But what seemed really odd was the way she treated me as if – as if I was made of glass. So fragile, so vulnerable. I was going to break into pieces any moment and she'd stare from one corner, helpless and lonely.

I'm completely making things up now, but the way she looked at me sometimes made me feel that way. It felt so _wrong,_ considering that she had been the vulnerable one before, the way she had moved about in the supermarket, _blind, _when Marco, Ax and I had been stalking her. Yet, despite her blindness, there had been some sort of steel in her eyes. Even when she hardly knew me, and I had pressed her to touch the morphing cube, she had trusted me with a strength that I was in awe of.

Now, I only saw desperation and fear in her eyes.

The last day or so, she had been yelling at me a couple of times about the whole making-a-huge-fuss-about-entering-school as well as having torn up The Sharing card (wasn't my fault, but I secretly applauded my alter-ego for having done so). However, after a while, when I didn't respond and just stared back, she'd cry and then hold me close. I nearly wanted to run away everytime she did that, but I always ended up turning rigid because I didn't know how to respond to her touch. It's not even about being a hawk for too long, it's just awkward being in the proximity of someone who felt so foreign.

From what she said, it felt like the Tobias who lived in that home was a very quiet boy, which wasn't too much of a stretch since I hardly talked at home before I became an Animorph. He had been homeschooled all this while, for reasons I still hadn't uncovered yet. From his diary, he was brooding, he hated his mom – for a while, it was easy to sort of _become _the human Tobias. I started to observe her instead. I'd seen these books on her desk that were all about mental illnesses. I'd asked her before if she was okay, and she was like 'what are you talking about?'. Later she explained that the books were for her work, and looked at me as if I was crazy for asking.

I heard some sounds coming from the building, so I snuck further behind the bushes. Those guys at The Sharing were out to get me because they knew I was Elfangor's son. Marco had gotten me to test their reactions since Visser Three had appeared at my doorstep as Aria. True enough, they were on the manhunt for me, which meant Elfangor's will had not been read. Was there even a will? Nobody knew now.

But what I had not told the other Animorphs was that I had tried asking Loren in a discreet manner about missing having a father figure. The look she had given me was that of complete _fright_.

"What are you talking about?" she had whispered. "Tobias, your father is long dead."

But what did she really know? I wanted to ask further, but she curtly told me not to ask any more questions and eat my dinner. I was starting to worry that she was a Controller, and I couldn't risk it by asking her directly.

Now I seriously wished I had just asked her.

Why was it that Elfangor existed, I existed, but Loren's memory was intact and she was looking after me? This whole thing didn't make any sense at all to me, and it was beyond frustrating. And now just thinking about this boy, whom I was supposed to be, hating his mother deep down inside, I felt a surge of anger towards him.

_Who the hell are you to be angry? Don't you know what you have? Can't you feel what you have? This is all you would have ever wanted, so why the hell are you complaining about it?_

I was trembling with so much anger just thinking about that. I had to calm myself down with a few deep breaths.

The best part was, none of the other Animorphs were with me now, and I had to somehow escape this building without alerting my presence to the people who were now walking out of the building and talking way too softly for me to hear.

I really missed my wings and sharp hearing and sharp eyesight and...

My fingers touched the fence. I looked behind me and saw that there was a big enough hole under the fence to roll out from. I leopard-crawled my way to the hole and scrabbled at it as silently as I could possibly manage. Finally, I squeezed myself out of the hole, and then I was running again, down the streets. I kept turning my head left and right in the most awkward way ever, trying to make sure that Cam and his harem were nowhere in sight.

That looked downright suspicious, but that was the best I could do without tripping over.

I couldn't run for much longer. When I saw the hint of the woods, I headed straight for it, towards a tree that I found particularly comfortable with when I had been a hawk.

Yeah, the trees haven't changed. That's something good to know.

"Since when," I muttered. "did you start worrying about your _family, _huh, Tobias? Since when was that ever a consideration?"

I sank to the ground again, massaging away a throbbing headache. I had to find out whether Loren could really remember who Elfangor was. Did she know that he was an alien? An Andalite?

I stood up. I had to go back to my home – Tobias's home, Loren's home, whatever – and find out the truth from her. We couldn't stay in this reality any longer. We still had a war to fight, and we were wasting our time here trying to avoid screwing up half the time? I didn't think so. I was tired of feeling all kinds of pain that I was not supposed to be feeling.

Suddenly, I heard a low growl. My whole body went rigid.

I didn't like that sound at all.

"Jake?" But it didn't really sound like a tiger.

"Rachel?" That was a bad try, for the growl came again. It sounded extemely _deadly_, and it made all the hair on my arms stand.

This was no ordinary animal.

I was back up against the tree, completely frozen. I've been prey for others plenty of time, but usually it doesn't involve me being a human and the other party an animal.

"Guys, this is not a joke, is it?"

There was a crackle of wood; the creature was moving forward.

I shut my eyes tightly, then curled my fingers into a ball. _Come on, Tobias. Where's all the strength in you?_

I spun away from the tree to meet the creature eye-to-eye.

I stared.

"What the –"

Then it clicked just before my logic really untangled the knot of a situation. And I let out an involuntary gasp.

‹Hello, Tobias.›


	22. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

::Cassie::

‹Cassie?›

My head was pounding as I tried to open my eyes.

‹Cassie?› The voice was more urgent. ‹Wake up!›

_How?_ I exerted as much strength as possible.

I felt a sharp pain in my side and wanted to scream, but no words came out. I tried to turn, but I seemed to be held back by an invisible force.

Finally, something bright seemed to flicker in the distance.

‹Cassie!›

I gasped and jerked upright, my eyes wide open.

‹Oh, thank god, Cassie, I thought you were dead!›

I spun around to see a gorilla quickly put aside a syringe. "Marco? W-what–" I stared around at my whitewashed surroundings. I had been lying on a hospital bed, and my surroundings were filled with trays of medicine and other medical supplies and equipment. "Where am I?"

‹A Yeerk hospital, I should think,› said Marco, as he lifted me off the bed. ‹I followed you here as a fly and managed to remorph in somewhere inconspicuous... please, Cassie, don't jump into hot soup when you're not supposed to!›

"What did I..."

‹You questioned Loren and ended up being whisked off by Visser Three,› said Marco, flatly. The vague memory of what he just said started to surface in my mind, and I cringed. ‹It took me some time to remember how you woke Jake up previously with adrenaline. Luckily, everything here's labelled,› he gestured to the syringe, ‹otherwise, you'd be›

He trailed off, staring at the door. I was about to ask what, when I heard footsteps.

‹Quick, morph to fly or something!› hissed Marco.

"I'm not leaving you to fight them alone!" I insisted, beginning my morph.

They were too near. Far too near for me to complete my morph.

Marco sensed it, too. Instantly, he lifted up the hospital bed and threw it onto its side, hiding me from the door's view just as it swung open.

"Andalite!" yelled someone.

"ROARRRRR!" Marco unleashed a furious gorilla cry as I willed myself to transform at top speed.

_TSEEEW!_ They had Dracon beams! There was no way Marco could manage this on his own.

‹Arrghhhh!› Marco stumbled backwards, behind the table with me, the tip of his fist sizzling from a beam.

_TSEEEW!_ The table in front of me was sliced into two.

"RROOAAAAARRRRRRR!"

Nothing can match the roar of the mighty polar bear.

"Oh my..." One of the Controllers stepped back, and he stepped back into Visser Three, who had just walked into the room.

With one clean swipe, the man fell down at the mercy of Visser Three's Andalite tail. All of the other Controllers had their Dracon beams aimed at both Marco and I, a gorilla and a polar bear.

‹This is great.›

‹Thanks to you, Cassie.›

‹Sorry.›

‹What now?›

‹Well, well, well...› Visser Three's stalk eyes swivelled from Marco to me. ‹I thank you for presenting yourselves to me, Andalites. I wasn't very sure that there were actual Andalites around, but now I can be certain. Tell me, what have you come to seek? Victory? Vengeance?› He laughed, and all the other Controllers joined in as well.

I was shaking with fear and anger. It was taking all my resolve not to launch myself at this vermin.

‹How did you come to Earth?› Visser Three's eyes narrowed at me. ‹And you have a morph of a creature that I believe resides in Earth territory that few living creatures go to.›

‹Cassie? Don't. Answer.›

‹Just give the word, Marco, and I'll tear him to shreds.›

‹That's generally not a good idea at the moment.›

‹Oh yeah?›

‹Keeping quiet?› Visser Three mused. ‹Well maybe I should make things more exciting.› He folded his arms. ‹Shall I invite the human Loren to join in the party then?›

‹Oh my God,› whispered Marco, as Visser Three stepped aside to show that Loren was being held by two Hork-Bajirs at the doorway. Her eyes were wide open with fear.

It's hot enough being a polar bear in a confined room. But it's boiling hot being a polar bear in a confined room who is filled to the brim with rage.

"ROOOOAARRRRRR!"

I swiped at the broken table before me, sending one half flying into a bunch of Hork-Bajirs and Taxxons. Marco joined me in shoving the other half towards the humans. Visser Three's Andalite tail whipped about, slicing the table halves into more halves, but he definitely wasn't prepared that I was about to ram into him.

‹Get out, Cassie!› yelled Marco, as I saw him punch a human in the gut at the corner of my eye.

BAM! I had sent the Visser flying straight into the wall. His tail swiped at me, but I gave it the hardest punch that a polar bear could possibly manage, and he roared in pain.

‹GET THEM!› He screeched, and the Taxxons were beginning to slither towards me, with the Hork-Bajirs overturning everything in their way. I turned back and barrelled into them, not caring that a few blades had struck down my side.

_TSEEEW! _

The door slam shut just as a Dracon beam flew past my ear.

‹Marco, get Loren out of here!› I screamed, tossing the man with the Dracon beam aside like a rag doll and biting down hard onto a Taxxon who screamed, "_Screeeee!_" like a banshee. I flung my head and sent the Taxxon crashing into its brothers, who had opened their big, devilish red mouths to latch onto the baggy skin of the dying creature.

Marco lumbered out and was nearly held back by a Hork-Bajir, but I spun around again and sent the bladed alien crashing against the wall, though I could feel a particularly bad gash that its elbow blade had dragged across my eye.

‹Cassie, you're hurt!›

‹OUT!› I screamed.

BAM! The door crashed open before Marco reached it. Before I could make out what it was, a blur of orange soared through the air and landed upon a Taxxon. In a second, it was tossed into the face of Visser Three, who had just sliced his way through the rubble.

‹AFTER THEM, YOU PIECES OF - STOP!›

The battle stopped almost instantaneously.

‹I wouldn't move if I were you.›

The Hork-Bajirs, half-wounded, immediately leaned forward. The tiger in the middle crouched and growled menacingly at them.

‹Jake!› I cried out, in relief. He turned his head towards me, then back at the Hork-Bajirs, baring his teeth. The humans were now shaking and dropping their Dracon beams one-by-one, as they stared past me...

I turned and saw Visser Three staring down furiously at a little furry black-and-white animal at his feet. My head was spinning from the blood that I was losing, and I was struggling to stay on my huge paws.

‹You don't scare me, you little creature,› said Visser Three, sneeringly. ‹What is this little kitty going to do?›

‹He doesn't know?› Marco asked, privately.

‹I don't think he has had his grape juice bath in this reality.›

‹Oh. Right. That wasn't funny.›

‹Marco? You thought it was hysterical.›

‹...right.›

‹I assure you, Visser Three, that if it fires, you will never want to have the use of your senses ever again, said Ax, very seriously. He proceeded to lift up his little skunk tail as he positioned his ass towards Visser Three.

"It's..." One of the humans shook as he spoke. "It's a skunk, Visser..." He whimpered as Visser Three's stalk eyes swivelled up at him. "It's got a scent ttha-att iss very potentt... it c-could knock you outt."

There was a brief silence.

"ROOOAARRRR!" Jake leapt out of the room, and Marco leapt forward to grab Ax. Before Visser Three's Andalite tail could react, I had rammed straight into him and past his soldiers, breaking down the wall in the process. I was half-blind by now, with blood running down my face and strength oozing out of me, but I had to keep running, running, running...

‹GETT THEMMM!› was the last I heard Visser Three yell as the four of us bounded out of the building, crashing through walls and bringing down everything in our way. As we ran, I could vaguely make out that Marco had Ax in one arm, and Loren over his shoulder. Relief coursed through my veins, all the way till we were out of that rubble. I was already demorphing throughout the run, and by the time we sneaked into a nearby alley, away from the screams and shouts and thunderous crashes of brick and stone to the ground, I was fully human again. Human and alive.

All of us were panting as we sank to the ground. Marco carefully leaned Loren against the wall, who was staring at us in complete bewilderment.

"You are not scared?" Ax asked.

Loren's eyes darted around, then narrowed in suspicion. "Who _are_ you people?"

Jake looked at me, and I looked at Marco, who pressed his lips together.

Then I looked at Loren. "It's time we started telling each other the truth."


	23. Chapter 22

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

::Marco::

By some strange miracle, we managed to make it back to Cassie's barn without much hassle. By that, I mean we escaped the hassle of being identified as weirdos in bike shorts and leotards by flying, while Ax remained human and walked Loren back – just in case he had to morph, it would be direct to Andalite. Now that Loren's cover had been blown, this walk would effectively be her last outside in public. It was a terrible message to convey to her, but strangely enough, Loren accepted our verdict without much complaint. The calm way in which she was absorbing our instructions was more than unnerving; it simply told me that she knew more than she had been letting on. Cassie was edgy, and I could almost feel her bristling throughout the flight even though she was flying a good few feet away from me.

Once we had demorphed in Cassie's barn, Jake brushed himself down and tried to make sure Cassie was okay. Cassie, on the other hand, didn't seem to need fussing and was almost annoyed by his concern.

The old Cassie would have been crying tears of joy upon seeing Jake lavish so much public attention on her, to be honest. I mean, not that she really would. That's just me trying to be funny.

We waited for Ax and Loren to arrive, following which, Cassie shut the doors tight. It was slightly unnerving not to have our usual eyes and ears up in the rafters, so Ax decided to do the bird morph instead to keep watch.

Jake looked back at all of us, his eyes a little vacant. "Is – is this what you all deal with on a regular basis?"

‹Yes, Prince Jake,› replied Ax, from the rafters.

Jake winced. This battle was nowhere near any of our worsts, but it was clear that it was more than enough for him at the moment. I don't even think he knew a tiger could roar that loudly, let alone bring himself to launch upon enemies and attack like crazy. If there's one thing Jake has inherently that can't be lost? It's his sense of responsibility. He knows when things are getting serious and he'll stop asking questions and do what is expected of him at that point in time.

And this sense of responsibility was wrecking him right now. He sank in the hay bale, looking weary and almost frightened, an emotion we hardly see in Jake. To be honest, he was making me frightened too.

"You've nearly died before. Lost a paw, huge gash at the neck," said Cassie. "This isn't that bad."

Jake stared at her incredulously.

I sighed.

Then I turned to Loren, who had been sitting quietly by the corner. She must have sensed that I was staring at her, for she looked up almost immediately. Her lips were pressed tightly together.

"Loren? How did you know the Yeerks?"

"I..." She paused. "I think I should be asking you that question." Her eyes sparkled slightly. "You're not Andalites."

"We're Tobias's friends," said Cassie.

"Cassie!" I gasped, at the same time as Loren.

"What?" Cassie spun around. "She's not going to talk to us unless it concerns her son. She loves Tobias far too much." She turned back to Loren. "We're not giving you any answers until you give us what we want to know."

This side of Cassie was scary – but to be honest, very effective at this point in time.

"How is Tobias even supposed to be involved in this?" whispered Loren, her face pale.

"Why do you even approve of him going to The Sharing if it's a Yeerk front?" I demanded.

"I didn't know!" Loren groaned. "If I had known, I would have never allowed him..." She trailed off. "Aria... who _is_ she?"

"Visser Three," said Cassie, bluntly.

Loren looked like she was about to faint. "He..." She became really pale. "Oh my God."

"You know who Elfangor is," Cassie accused, "and you know Visser Three. Did you know..."

‹Cassie,› said Ax, in what I guessed to be a private tone. ‹Do not move ahead so quickly. Marco?›

I nodded slightly so that only Ax and Cassie could see. Jake was still lying in the corner looking dazed. Loren was now shaking quite badly, so I motioned Cassie to back off a little.

"Okay, one step at a time. Let's talk about Tobias first, 'cos you're most comfortable with that. Why push him to The Sharing in the first place? Why are you so connected to Aria?"

Finally, Loren looked up and spoke quietly,

"I wanted Tobias to join The Sharing because it seemed like it might help him. He needs to get out there, make friends, not be stuck at home all day long." Tears were now streaming down Loren's cheeks. "He can't survive in the world like that."

Jake massaged his forehead. "And he was previously homeschooled. What's wrong with him?"

Loren bit her lip. "He was diagnosed with antisocial tendencies at a young age."

All of us stared at each other.

"I've been helping out a care centre dealing with kids having such tendencies to find out more. But I can't let Tobias go to those kind of centres. Those centres make you feel like you're _different_, like you _need_ help. I don't want him to be looked down upon by others. That was why I was so grateful to Aria," her voice turned dark and spiteful at that name, "when _she_ offered to negotiate with a school to let them accept Tobias."

Judging by Tobias's real life, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for Bird-Boy. Even in this reality, his life wasn't much better despite Loren's presence.

‹I believe that was what you were researching on in your room,› said Ax.

"What?" Cassie looked confused.

‹Human mental illnesses. She was researching and designing something on that.›

Loren's eyes flashed; clearly, she wasn't pleased that we had been stalking her. "I'm helping out with a carnival with the care centre this weekend. But it looks like it's a no-go, isn't it?" She made a rude noise. "I might as well not exist on this Earth anymore!"

She looked away as she said that.

"Then... what about Elfangor?" I asked, slowly.

There was quite a long silence. Cassie was extremely agitated by now that I wouldn't be surprised if she was to go all full-blown polar bear again. Somehow, it seemed as if Cassie and Rachel had switched bodies, and it wasn't a pretty feeling at all.

Speaking of Rachel, I had no idea where she was. Or where Tobias was.

"Tobias could be in danger if you withhold any more information," said Jake. Cassie and I turned to stare at him in surprise. "We would really appreciate your cooperation."

"Where is he?" whispered Loren.

"On the run, maybe?" Cassie replied, coldly. "Because Visser Three knows he's Elfangor's son!"

Loren buried her face in her hands. "What have I done?"

‹Elfangor was my brother.›

Loren's head shot up once again, staring at the northern harrier shifting awkwardly above, rafters creaking as he moved.

‹This is a very complicated situation, but I believe my brother was murdered by Visser Three.›

Loren's lack of surprise confirmed it. I walked forward to put a hand on her shoulder. "You knew."

Loren nodded. "Yes. He died. I was visited by a spirit of some kind, I don't know who. He told me... he told me what happened to Elfangor," she swallowed hard, "I didn't want to believe him, but Elfangor's last words... he told me what they were, and it _had _to be from him. But the spirit wanted me to forget everything. How could I?"

"The Ellimist," said Cassie.

‹What were his last words?› Ax sounded desperate.

Loren began to sing a few lines, but it wasn't in English. I stared at her, slightly mesmerised by how deeply enchanted she looked with the song.

When Loren finished, she looked back at Ax, who hung his head.

‹The Andalite lullaby. Encouraging a young one to grow, to be strong, to be a good male or female and to bring dreams to the family. To sing this song again to his or her young one day. Elfangor taught you that.› His voice was trembling.

"Yes," whispered Loren. "He knew, somehow, that Tobias would be born."

Even Cassie looked pained now.

"There was nothing I could do. I'm only human. Eventually I found out I was pregnant. Alan's child..."

Alan. Alan Fangor. Elfangor. Tobias's story with the McGroot lawyer a year or two ago had sent chills down our spine. He had retold it emotionlessly, but guys just don't like to let things show. Particularly a guy who can't even make expressions beyond a single dimension on a bird's face.

I frowned. "Well... was Tobias born with such tendencies?"

Cassie looked at me questioningly, but I shook my head slightly.

Loren's eyebrows furrowed together. "Actually... no."

I could literally feel my eyes light up.

‹But it is a mental illness, is it not?› Ax was thoroughly confused.

"Well, yes it is diagnosed a mental illness, but it wasn't biologically defined," said Loren, quietly. "It was trauma-defined. It happened after I had a near-car accident sometime when Tobias was six. I jammed the brakes so hard when this kid ran past, and it gave Tobias a huge shock he never recovered from."

"Well, the Tobias you know now, who lives – or has been living in your house now, doesn't have antisocial tendencies," I said, coolly. "He might be a bit whiny sometimes, or a bit angsty? But that's just teenage hormones."

Loren stared, perplexed. "I don't get you."

Cassie looked at me impatiently, her hands on her hips. "Well, I guess it's time we told you our story now."

"Better make it quick," I said, looking at a rusty clock hanging on the barn wall. "We need to find Rachel and Tobias, and then make some good plans. Otherwise, we've got a Yeerk search party out for our butts."

There was a thump, and Jake had slumped further into the hay bale, groaning.


	24. Chapter 23

**A/N:** Sorry for the update delay, and sorry that this is a rather short chapter! But there's a clue or two below as to who's (partly) responsible for the shenanigans that has been going on... yes, I know, finally. Can you guess who? Enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

::Rachel::

The first sensation that hit me was a wave of excruciating pain in my head. Like somebody was drilling a hole into my skull...

"AHHHHH!"

Even before I opened my eyes, I could feel it. The pain, the restraint...

The fear.

Jake and Cassie had described this feeling before...

Was I a Controller?

I opened my eyes.

By myself. _Thank God!_

I was crouched against the wall of a dimly-lit, bare room with grubby surfaces. There were no windows, and the only light source came from a single light bulb hanging from the centre of the ceiling, and it cast an eerie glow, luminating the only other object in the room.

A television screen.

It was a small one, blank, but its presence was so _weird_ that my curiosity was...

"Ss!" I hissed as I realised what situation I was in. I was bound by _wires_, all coiled up tightly around me and biting into my skin. I could barely even move with the pressure of the metal against me.

_What happened?_

Panic was rising in me. I could barely remember what had happened, but right now, I just had to get out of here. _Morph, Rachel, morph!_ Fly. I had to go housefly to go past the door, underneath it...

"Ahhh!"

I stared in disbelief at the wires around me. They weren't even connected to anything. How did I feel...

I screamed again as I tried to concentrate on my morph. After three tries, the electric shocks from the wires proved too much to handle, and my head collapsed against the wall.

_Come on, Rachel... you're Xena, Warrior Princess. This little bit of pain is not supposed to get you down!_

But I just could not summon that kind of strength.

Just then, the television screen flickered slightly. Static buzzed in my ears as I stared hard at the screen that now showed a scene...

A scene that almost made me jerk in incredulity, for the surroundings of the room featured was exactly like where I was. For a moment, I thought I was watching myself and some sick pervert was spying on me.

Then I realised something even more sickening.

It wasn't me in the video being screened.

It was Tobias.

He was curled up in the corner, but shortly after, he began to shift - and then, he was completely conscious and began to survey his surroundings.

"Tobias!" I gasped, but of course he couldn't hear me. I tried to shuffle forward, but only succeeded in moving an inch or two.

"What is this?" I screamed, struggling in futility.

There was no answer. I looked around to see if there was a camera of sorts, like the one in Tobias's room, but I couldn't see any.

Squinting back at the television screen, I could make out that - despite the fuzziness - Tobias was actually bruised and cut - and really, really mad. Unlike me, he was not restrained, and that simply led to him running towards the door and banging heavily on it, yelling,

"Who the hell are you? Let me out!"

Had Cam caught up with Tobias and thrown him here? Were the others caught and turned into Controllers? My blood ran cold at the thought of that.

A vague memory of colliding into something mid-air came back to me. It wasn't an object for sure. It had felt like a _living thing_. It had to be a bird. It must have been a bird out to have me for lunch. But that didn't seem very right either. Birds-of-prey attack from the top; they don't ram into you and knock you out like that.

I was scared to death, but that didn't stop my mind from working furiously. And it sure didn't stop me from noticing the strange differences between Tobias's and my situations. Here I was, able to see him, but there was no screen in his room and he was free to move.

Then again, Tobias could not morph, so it made no difference.

Whoever did this knew. But how could they? Did Visser Three guess?

"Please..." I found myself whimpering. _No, Rachel, you can't give in to your fear!_ But as it was, watching a hurt Tobias rage about in the room made me feel so helpless. Time after time, he'd be hurt by our enemies and it would take a feral insanity within me to charge ahead, even at the risk of everybody else's lives. I would screw up the mission. For him. Yet now, I could barely move an inch and god knows if our captor would burst into the room any moment and torture him, hurt him, even _kill_ him, and I would be watching helplessly, angrily, fearfully...

Why was there a screen in my room, for me to watch all of this?

Why was there none in Tobias's room?

"Tobias!" I cried once more.

"Get me out of here!" yelled Tobias, a millisecond after I yelled.

I could hear Tobias's cries for help, his rage, his own helplessness.

He couldn't hear mine.

I watched as he winced and brought his hand to the side of his face. Then he held his hand away and it appeared dark-coloured. He was wounded worse than I thought, but being battle-hardened Tobias, he ignored it and continued to yell and bang hard on the door.

The light bulb above switched off, engulfing me in darkness except for the dim light radiating from the television screen. But the light bulb in my head was blinking.

Whoever caught us _knew_ us. But whoever it was didn't just know us; he or she knew _me_. He, or she, or _it_, knew that for me to watch Tobias suffer would be the most hurtful thing in the world.

This wasn't the work of Visser Three. The bird in mid-air... that wasn't a Yeerk's doing.

It began to dawn on me.

Whoever it was wasn't really torturing Tobias; it was _me_ it was after.

I gasped a little.

_"Help me! Help meeeee!"_

No. _No._

No!

I could feel the tears well up in my eyes as fear threatened to overload my entire nervous system. My eyes darted around fearfully, but with the light off, it was harder to spot any hidden camera. The horrid feeling of disgust and complete horror was creeping over my skin like an unwanted layer as the voice in my head screamed for help over and over again.

My conscience was coming back to haunt me, and this time, it would kill Tobias.


	25. Chapter 24

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay! Many theories abound here, so it might get a bit wordy, but do stay with me! Get ready, people, for the main action starts from the next chapter onwards... hope you guys enjoy this one in the meantime!

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

::Ax::

"I think we can conclude that the Ellimist did play his part then," said Cassie, grimly. "He sent Elfangor back in time to become an Andalite war-prince once again, and Elfangor was killed by Visser Three."

The expression on Loren's face mirrored the pain within me as I thought of Elfangor being killed by that beast.

"The difference," said Marco, "is that Loren never had the accident."

We had told Loren about our experiences of being transported into this reality. Surprisingly, she was inclined to believe us, but only because – in her own words – "everything's just insane right now, if I can't even trust you kids, I don't know who to trust anymore."

I was getting to like my "sister-in-law" very much.

"But Loren had a near-accident when Tobias was young. Don't get me wrong, but that sounds a lot like karma," said Cassie, wincing. "Guess the Ellimist was lucky that didn't spoil his plans."

Prince Jake put his hand over his face. All the action throughout the day must have been extremely tiring and confusing for him. He had acted bravely despite a real understanding of the dangers earlier on – his sense of responsibility still renders him worthy of me calling him my Prince.

"Shall we go find Rachel and Tobias now?" asked Marco, rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

"I'll give Rachel a call," said Cassie.

Moments later, she came back, frowning. "Rachel's not at home. Her mom thought she was with us."

"God, this is really not the time to be on a hot date!"

"Tobias is dating someone?" Loren raised an eyebrow.

"No! I mean, yes – erm... it's complicated," said Marco, waving his hands about awkwardly.

I was keeping an eye on Prince Jake throughout and I had noticed that there seemed to be something on his mind.

‹Prince Jake? Is there something you wish to ask?›

All eyes turned to Prince Jake, who began to stand up amidst the pile of hay.

"I think..." he began, then coughed a little before continuing, "there's something really strange about my memory."

"What?" demanded Cassie.

"I've been thinking about it all day... it's really weird that my memory of the past few days have been really fuzzy... like I remember we went to the Sharing, and we met Tom and these guys who later threw us out. And I'm absolutely sure I remembered their names, but now I've forgotten."

"Matt and Cam," said Marco. "Not like you need to remember anyway, they're just fronts for Yeerks."

"No, that's not the deal," said Jake, his voice trembling slightly. "It's just that I've often had a very good memory for events and details. For example, I have these extremely vivid memories of us when we were young. Like junior high school times, when we hung out at the arcade, when I first met Cassie or even before that. Rachel and I playing in the sandpit when we were young and she crying when I threw sand all over her. I even remember playing videogames with Phillip!" He pointed to me. "In fact, I remember going to Aunt Sal's house with Rachel and teasing Phillip about being a nerd all the time. And we would have some of her lovely cinnamon buns and pancakes and I can smell the _whiff_ of it, it was awesome."

‹Her cinnamon buns are very delicious.›

Marco's eyes were narrowed, however. "And this means...?"

Jake held his head in his hands. "This sounds totally weird. I never used to think this was an issue – but lately – specifically, these past few days meeting you guys? I'm starting to have a lot of weird visions."

Marco, Cassie and I exchanged looks of shock.

‹Prince Jake, what kind of visions?› I asked, urgently.

Jake closed his eyes. "The other day I was at the Sharing, I saw this thing – it was a poster. I don't even remember what's on it now, but I remember when I saw it, I had the strangest feeling. Like... like a feeling of _déja vu_, you know? I've seen it somewhere. But the poster was an old one. It's not this year. That's as much as I can piece." He paused. "And also, I shoot hoops, yeah? But sometimes I have these visions of playing basketball – even though it's the same environment, it just feels different. Like I'm taller, or like I'm stronger and I have a better aim or a different angle and style." He groaned. "This is just pure insanity, my God."

"Welcome to the life of an Animorph," muttered Marco.

"And I – I think just now, when I was the tiger, I had a vision of something really, really odd. Like a swimming pool, but filled with sludge instead of water."

My main eyes stayed focused on Prince Jake, but my stalk eyes swivelled immediately to Marco and Cassie, whose jaws had literally dropped.

"It was bubbling," whispered Marco.

"Yes! Yes, how did you know?" asked Prince Jake, surprised.

"What else?" urged Cassie.

"I came really close to the pool and it was boiling. It was like being in a nightmare. Okay, I really don't know why I feel so compelled to say all these stupid things, but they seemed kinda real to me. Don't judge me, please."

"We've all had that nightmare," said Marco, bitterly.

‹The Yeerk pool,› I said, anger radiating within me. ‹But how is it possible that he has such images?›

"Colours, too, lots of colours. Like a very wondrous feeling..." Prince Jake was muttering to himself, shrugging as he spoke. "Like it was the first thing I saw something. It was such a _happy_ feeling... but so, incredibly jarring and weird. I think hanging around you asses is making me crazy."

"I think I'm the one going crazy," said Loren, calmly.

"Somebody's tampered with your memory," said Cassie, and we turned to look at her. "Somebody, or something. And in that process, that somebody or something forgot to remove Tom's memories from yours."

"Excuse me?" Marco stared at her.

"Don't you see? The Yeerk pool. The basketball memories. The poster of the Sharing. He's seeing them through Tom's eyes. But what really made me figure that out was the last bit. The colours? That wondrous, happy feeling? He's describing the Gedd memories. The feeling a blind, helpless Yeerk gets when it enters its first host." Cassie's voice had dropped to a whisper. "I felt those memories from Aftran – Jake got it from the Yeerk that was inside Tom."

‹What you are saying, Cassie, is that Prince Jake has actually come to this reality with us, which explains his morphing capabilities. But what has been modified is his memory – in fact, his memory has been _manufactured_ to complement that of this current reality.› As much as I disliked to admit it, Cassie's logic had made more inroad to solving the problem than my thoughts had attempted to.

"Yes, that is what I'm saying. And whoever it was didn't realise that there were memories implanted into Jake apart from his own. Tom's, that is."

Prince Jake was pale. "I don't know what happened, but I'm guessing from what you said, Tom's Yeerk was once inside my head?"

Marco nodded. "Yeah, bad experience, that one. We starved it in the end and saved you, but you were stuck with Tom's memories from then on."

Prince Jake went into a moment of silence. Then he finally spoke. "It's funny, but I can actually pinpoint a specific point in time when my memories start to become less vivid. Like before that, it was almost photographic for me. Then after that day, I just felt like that ability had been lost. I was just – like anyone else, I suppose. The way everybody describes their memories – often with a few holes and stuff."

‹This is too coincidental,› I said, privately to Marco and Cassie. Cassie gave a slight nod, but Marco's frown just deepened.

"Jake, when was that point in time?" Cassie asked.

I could hear my hearts beat a little faster as we waited for his answer.

"It's... Marco, do you remember there was this time we actually met _both_ Cassie and Rachel at the mall after the arcade by accident? We were like thirteen, I think. I mean – okay, crap, no, you don't remember, of course..." Jake scratched his head. "Well usually, I'll meet them by chance, and you'll meet them by chance, or we'll meet either one of them... anyway, it's just strange that we all met by coincidence. And I was feeling really crappy that day –just being depressed about not making the team the first time round and stuff."

Marco had gone white. "And I had lost all our quarters."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "You did? Hey, wait, yeah! You – say, how did you know?"

"Jake?" Marco's lips were trembling. "Do you remember when we told you how this whole shenanigan started? The blue box and everything?"

"Huh? What has this got to do with –"

"And I said we had found Elfangor in an abandoned construction site?"

"Yeah?"

"We thought about cutting through, didn't we? But in your reality, we didn't. That day when we met Rachel and Cassie, we decided not to take that path even though something inside you said you should have."

There was utter silence. A bird in its cage fluttered about, breaking the trance.

"So you're saying," said Prince Jake, slowly. "That if we had decided to cut through it that day, I would have met Elfangor too."

Cassie narrowed her eyes at Prince Jake. "But why didn't we walk through?"

Jake shut his eyes tightly. When he opened them, he said, "We were interrupted. I'm quite sure we wanted to. Something stopped us. Hmm."

"The ax-murderers," said Marco. I interpreted that as filled with human sarcasm.

Prince Jake snapped his fingers. "Yes! That's right. It was a boy. Our age. He said something like there was someone in there stalking him. Ax-murderers, yes, that's what he said."

"If things were supposed to go the way they were, there wasn't supposed to be a boy," said Cassie.

"He was blond. A really weird tuft on this side of his hair." Jake lifted up a tuft of his own hair. "Yeah, I remember that 'cos it's quite unique."

I had not really considered the boy to be an important factor for the last few seconds, until Loren spoke up. "You know, the boy whom I nearly knocked down during my near-accident had that tuft of blond hair too. God, his face haunts me in my dreams sometimes. He looked so scared and pale..."

"Tell me about it," muttered Prince Jake.

‹This is no coincidence,› I repeated myself, this time including Prince Jake and Loren in my thoughtspeech. ‹It seems that it is possible that this boy has been planted to disrupt the time-space continuum.›

But before I could continue my scientific theories, Marco had sat down really hard. Cassie was kneeling beside him and holding onto his arm.

‹What is it?› I asked, dreading the answer.

"That tuft of hair..." Marco let out a dry laugh. "Oh my God."

"Are you sure, Marco?" Cassie gripped him tightly.

"If I hadn't seen him the other day, I wouldn't even have _thought_ of him..." Marco looked directly at me. "But he's here. He's happy. He's got everything he wanted and we don't."

The truth began to dawn upon me.

"I don't know if I'm taking this too far. But it _has_ to be him. I just feel like it has to be him..." Marco gritted his teeth.

"What?" Prince Jake was completely confused.

Marco bit his lip, then uttered one word,

_"David."_

* * *

**A/N: **If the process in which they derive their conclusions seems a bit hasty, there's a justification for that which will be dealt with in later chapters. Like what Ax says, it's no coincidence!


	26. Chapter 25

**A/N:** I sincerely apologise (again! Argh...) for the long, long delay! I come bearing _two_ chapters as gifts to make up for it! Hope you all enjoy it. I promise that more action will come in the following chapters now that they've found out who seems to be responsible for all these ridiculous shenanigans!

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

::Jake::

"Who the hell is David?" I demanded.

It took quite a long time for the rest to explain to both Loren and I who this David person was. My head was spinning with all these theories and speculations, but there was an emotion of sorts intensifying with me as Marco detailed what David had done in the other reality. Even though I could have just dismissed everything as a cock-and-bull story, somehow the emotions of this whole situation was so palpable that my hands were already clenched into fists. Cassie's voice was trembling as she added in details about what had happened to David in the end, with the Coke-bottle and all, but hearing about David's betrayal was enough to make me feel like he deserved it.

Well, turns out turning into a tiger and facing death at an alien's hands does things to your heart.

"He has a happy family now," said Marco, gritting his teeth. "And he wants to make sure none of us have it. He wants to make us lose it all!"

"But I don't understand how he can be so powerful," said Cassie. "Unless – _Crayak?_" She looked a bit disturbed at the thought.

‹Crayak may be able to bend time. But he, too, is not a personality manipulator,› said Ax, calmly. He seemed to be more comfortable in thoughtspeech despite the fact that he had a mouth.

"Please don't tell me that creep got his hands on the Time Matrix and some mega-machine that can twist people inside out," groaned Marco.

‹Whatever it is, time alone is not something to be toggled with. David has been playing with time by appearing when he shouldn't have, and that has very serious consequences.›

"Guess the only way to find out is if we get David," said Cassie.

"I'm going to phone Rachel," I said, immediately. "We have to get her and Tobias with us and we're going to check this David guy out quick."

"I'm going to check out if David still lives at where he used to," said Marco. "Be back in less than fifteen minutes, I hope. Cassie, you coming along?"

"I'll stay with Jake. Ax, please follow him."

"Very well." And Ax and Marco took off, while Cassie brought her handheld phone over.

"Sure there's reception?" I asked doubtfully, looking around the barn.

"Well, yeah, sometimes I call you from here," said Cassie, looking slightly embarrassed. "Privacy."

"Oh, right."

"I mean, Yeerk-issues kinda privacy," clarified Cassie, hastily. "Not, you know..."

I bit back a smile. "Right. Sorry, I err... only know one-level of privacy in this reality."

Cassie went really red, and I hurriedly turned to dial Rachel's number. A few rings, and Sara picked up.

"Hey, Sara," I said, as cheerfully as possible. "Jake here. Is Rachel there?"

Sara did a few shouts away from the phone before returning to say, "No, I think she's gone sharping!"

"Right," I said. _Sharping_ was really Sara's way of saying 'shopping'. "Err... if she comes back, tell her to give me a call, 'kay?"

Sara made an assenting noise and hung up.

"It's been half a day," said Cassie, frowning. "Rachel and Tobias wouldn't just go off for half a day like that without telling us."

"They look pretty intense," I joked. "Could take a whole day."

"No, that's not the way they roll, not when Tobias knows he's being watched by Controllers," said Cassie, grimly.

"Tobias..." Loren's voice made both Cassie and I jump. Geez, I'd forgotten the lady was still there. Had she _heard_ my pathetic attempts at flirt– "Is he lost?"

Her voice seemed steady, but it was cracking towards the end. I exchanged looks with Cassie.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Cassie.

"He sounds so – so _strong_. The way you all described him. _Hardy._"

Her eyes were shining, as though she was so eager to find this 'new' Tobias. I felt a little sorry for her.

"Look, Loren," said Cassie, quietly. "This Tobias? He's not _really_ your son." Loren's face fell. "He's got his own life to live and you mustn't raise your expectations to hope that he may stay behind. Tobias loves you, there's no doubt about that. But he doesn't belong here. None of us do, not even Jake." I flinched slightly. "You have to help us in this in order to get your son back."

Loren looked extremely conflicted. The son she was going to get back was the son who was plagued with problems. Not that the current Tobias was any less problematic, from what the others had told me.

"I'm going to get one of Rachel's dresses from my wardrobe," said Cassie. "We're going to play a little game."

Ten minutes later, Marco and Ax returned to report that David was not at home.

"But Megadeth is there," said Marco, snidely. "So I'm definitely sure it's his place."

"Megadeth?" I echoed.

"His err... pet cobra."

"What? What is wrong with this kid?"

"That _thing_ exists in my DNA, by the way," said Marco. Then he winced. "No time to explain. Okay, Cassie, why are you holding up a dress?"

Cassie smiled. "We're playing a game of find-the-bone."

Marco groaned. "Rachel will kill you if she found out you had _dogs_ sniffing at her clothes."

Cassie shrugged. "Not the first time. As long as she doesn't know."

-.-.-.-.-.-

A few minutes later, Marco and I were both in dog morphs. I hadn't even known I had a _dog_ in me – and said dog was _Homer_. God, was this what he always felt whenever I made him run? I was lazy and sleepy, and I didn't want to move from the haystack. But the girl was dragging me by the scruff. _Why?_ I whined a doggy whine.

"For God's sake, Jake," Cassie panted. "Can you _please_ just go out there by yourself?"

‹But I don't want to!›

"Rachel and Tobias's lives are at stake, you – you _dog_!"

That jerked me up, and I bolted out of the doorway to find another dog running in circles. I had to control a strange urge to join in the circling fun.

"Okay, come off it, you two!" Cassie said, crossly. She grabbed both of us by the scruffs and we let out doggy whines once again. "Ax, where's the dress?"

Ax looked extremely comical holding up a girl's dress and placing it against his body. "This is a strangeee – stranGUHH article of clothing. It is one-piece!"

"Ax, you've been on Earth long enough to tell that it's a dress," said Cassie, putting her hands on her hips.

"But I have nevvvv – nevv – _nice sound_ – never seen it so flat."

‹Is he talking about boobs?› I asked Marco, privately.

‹I believe our boy Ax has just made his first dirty human joke,› Marco announced to the rest.

"Not bad, Marco, some of that humour's coming through," said Cassie, who tossed the dress from Ax's hands onto both Marco's and my head. "Now, smell it and go find Rachel. Go!"

I sniffed the clothing as deeply and frantically as I possibly could. Rachel and Tobias had left the barn many hours ago – it was even starting to get dark – but for some reason, Homer's sense of smell is incredible. He could still smell the faint scent of...

‹This way! I tossed the dress off my head and bounded towards the gate. ‹I don't know why, but it smells like this way.›

Marco and I bounded ahead, while Cassie and Ax tried their best to follow us. Somehow, we were led in circles all around the neighbourhood. Eventually, Cassie and Ax both morphed into birds to catch up with us.

‹What were they doing, going all around?› demanded Cassie, as she circled overhead. ‹Playing catch?

‹No,› said Marco. ‹I think _someone _was playing catch with them. Rachel's scent is strongly intermingled with another's – it must be Tobias's.›

‹Oh. You think it was the Sharing guys?› Cassie asked. I felt a shudder go through my dog body as I thought of Tom leading Cam, Matt and the rest to chase after Rachel and Tobias.

‹It's not like I know their scent,› said Marco, exasperated. ‹Hey, look, their scents separate!›

‹Tobias's is stronger here,› I said, tilting my head in one direction. ‹I'm going after that. You go after Rachel's.›

Cassie followed me while Ax flew above Marco. I found myself heading towards the woods and stopped short. I sniffed the grass and gingerly padded my way to one of the trees. Then I moved onwards to the next one.

‹Look, Jake!› Cassie fluttered down to the branch above me. ‹In front of you!›

I looked – and there were faint markings in the soil.

Large paw prints.

‹What could have made those?› I asked.

‹It's a big cat's prints,› said Cassie, her tone harsh.

‹What the hell is a big cat doing...›

‹David was well-known for a lion morph.›

I felt a tingle go down my spine. ‹Wait.› Then I sniffed Tobias's scent all the way to the main road. Then it was gone.

‹He must have driven off with Tobias,› said Cassie, now extremely worried-sounding. ‹Oh my God, how are we going to find Tobias?›

‹Rachel?› I whispered. ‹What about Rachel?›

‹Time to find Marco and Ax.›


	27. Chapter 26

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

::Tobias::

I swore at the top of my voice as I banged my fists on the door. Sharp pain was shooting through my arms, but I cared less about getting hurt than wanting to be out of this claustrophobic room. Good grief, first I lost my wings, now I was to be stuck in these cramped four walls? Hell no!

"Who the hell are you? Let me out of here!"

I stumbled back a few steps as the pounding in my head intensified. I could barely remember how I even ended up here. Wait...

Rachel?

_Think, Tobias, think!_

I had been with her earlier. Then we had met those dudes from The Sharing who sent us on a running spree.

We split up. I was in the forest.

How did I...

I sank to the floor, wincing as another bolt of pain shot through my head.

"Let me out of here!" I cried, once again, but to no avail.

Did Rachel manage to get away safely? I hoped to _death_ that none of those jerks had caught her. It was bad enough that they had recognised me for being Elfangor's son. The last thing I wanted was to drag Rachel down too.

Not that she would care, of course. She would just jump head-first down into the chance to...

Maybe the old Rachel would. _This_ Rachel wouldn't.

Things were coming back to me, the whole time warp shenanigan. But for the life of me, I couldn't really remember what had gone on the moment I stepped into the forest.

"Just let me –"

I stopped upon hearing footsteps. Quickly, I got to my feet as something clicked in the lock.

The door pushed open. I narrowed my eyes.

A middle-aged man with a scruffy appearance entered and shut the door behind him. He wore a very sinister smirk and tucked his hands into his jeans pockets.

"Who _are_ you?" I stared at him incredulously.

His smirk and silence were infuriating me.

"I said – who are you?" I lunged forward to shove him, but he was quicker. He held out a fist and I found myself flying backwards into the wall. I let out a gasp as I slid down the concrete surface.

"Hi, Tobias," said the man, haughtily.

I grimaced. "You're a Controller."

The man smiled. "Welcome to your humble abode for the next few hours."

"What do you want with me, you lackey?" I spat. "There's nothing you're going to get out of me!"

"How about, something I can get _into_ you?" asked the man.

I flinched. The mere idea of a Yeerk next to me was nauseating enough, let alone the idea that one might go _into_ me at any moment. "Take your filthy worms away from me!"

"Such a bad actor, Tobias," said the man, reprovingly. "The Animorphs would lose the war immediately because of your pathetic cover."

I stared at him again. "W-what?"

_How did he know..._

My heart nearly stopped beating. They had found out. That was it. The end. We had come to this alternative reality to meet our end. The Earth's doomsday.

Rachel. They must have taken Rachel. All of us would fall into the hands of these disgusting alien supremacists, and every Earthling would be subjected to their control.

Our battle was over.

I hung my head.

"And a very stupid boy too. What happened to the boy who thought his life would change for the better by becoming a bird?"

My head shot up. The man was adjusting his shirt so his eyes were not on me. But I was staring so intensely at him that I felt like my eyes would shoot out fire to incinerate him at any moment.

"What happened to the boy who thought he could fight even though all he had was a pair of wings and a broken life?"

The man lifted up his head and I saw the smirk deepen into something hard and cruel.

"What happened to the boy who thought he could hold onto a girl so he could hold onto his humanity, but in truth, the girl was losing her humanity as well?"

I didn't know what to say. Part of me was really confused, and part of me was scrabbling at something really _déja vu_ about what the man was saying.

"I thought I would make your life easier, Tobias. Give you a home. Give you a mother. All the things you always wanted to have, or that you _could_ have had if not for those meddling aliens. That way you would never want to return back to your old life."

The man slowly walked to the other end of the room. "But in exchange, I would take away your wings. Take away the one thing that gave you courage. And oh boy, look at what it has done to you. Look at this shaking mess that you've become."

I tried to stop trembling, but I couldn't. "Who... who the _hell_ are you?" I felt so sick sounding so weak, but the pain and fear in my body were combining into a lethal force, wrecking me.

The man made a tutting noise. "And look what it has done to your brain. Can't guess, Tobias?"

My brain was in such a mess that I just stared at him blankly.

"Guess I'll just have to make things a lot more basic for you."

I blinked. The image before me was starting to blur. I thought I was going to black out. But –

No.

_No._

I wasn't fainting. The man was _shapeshifting._

_Morphing._ Or actually, _demorphing._

And he was becoming somebody – somebody familiar.

Somebody I would recognise for _life._

Somebody I wished I could club to _death._ With a stupid baseball bat. Payback for what he thought he had done to me.

I spat immediately. "It's _you_! It's you who created this stupid, ridiculous reality!"

David – _yes, goddamn, David!_ – laughed once he had finished demorphing from the middle-aged persona. I hadn't seen him for so long. At least, not as a human.

He spoke, but in a low, quiet voice that harboured a cold tinge of menace. "You all broke me. All of you."

"Why are you doing this?" I gritted my teeth. "Now's not the time for games!"

David advanced towards me. "Then what? You expect me to be kind and help you in your vendetta against the Yeerks? You all had a vendetta against me and you didn't stop at anything! What will all of you do when the time comes? If those worms refused to leave their hosts, would you kill all of them along with the humans they have infested?"

I felt something catch in my throat.

"Hard pressed for an answer?" David smirked, kneeling down before Tobias. "Pretending to be such martyrs, fighting for the greater good. Sacrificial, even, aren't we, Tobias? Lost your humanity for the war. But let me tell you something. None of you have that moral capacity to make the right decisions. Not even the most _moral_ of you all. Look at what Cassie did to me. Look at what she did and where it has landed me."

"You're a human now," I replied, coldly. But beneath the pretence of bravery, every single fibre of my being was rattling with fear.

David threw back his head and laughed out loud. "Yes, of course, I'm human now."

"You couldn't have done this all on your own!" I glared at him. "It's Crayak, isn't it?"

David threw up his hands airily. "Believe what you want. This was completely my idea."

He smiled. "Because if I didn't choose to come back to do this to all of you, I would be nothing. Not even a rat. You know why?"

He leaned closer to me. "Because your girlfriend killed me. And I'm here for revenge."


	28. Chapter 27

**A/N:** Guh, RL is really being quite a pain in the ass at the moment :( I promise the next chapter will be up in less than a week! But the intervals for subsequent chapters can't be guaranteed :( anyway, I hope you all still enjoy this one!

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**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

::Cassie::

It's been a long time ago. It's almost like a dream, except that I wake up every morning knowing that somewhere out there, a rat lives a life not of its own.

But for the last month or so, I have woken up knowing – or at least, _thinking_ – that the rat lives no more.

That's something that none of the rest know.

Except Rachel.

I didn't see her do it. She didn't tell me that she did it. But deep down inside, I knew she had done it. Even if Rachel and I are no longer as close as we used to be, I knew from the kind of psychological torture David had put Rachel through, that there was no way she was going to live it down watching him live.

I understand. I really do. I wanted to confront her back then, but now, I just think there's no point.

But regardless of all that ridiculously confusing history between us and David, the main point is that he's now back. And it's impossible that he should be back unless some mega-super-power brought him here. Or that he turned into that mega-super-power himself, which is really highly unlikely.

_Crayak._ The only thing Rachel mentioned from her last encounter with David was that Crayak was an asshole. Crayak had brought David to Rachel – it wouldn't be a surprise that he brought that little rat here and transformed him into a human.

_Well, David_, I thought, _your Cinder-fella story is not going to last for long. _

Big words for someone who wasn't able to come up with a plan to find out where he had possibly taken Tobias.

I had flown over the neighbourhood to fetch the airborne duo of Marco and Ax, alerting them to what Jake and I had found in the woods. Now the four of us stood at the clearing, where the lion paw prints had already faded.

I wasn't coming up with a plan – Jake was. Good old Jake.

"It's getting late," said Jake, grimly. "But we're not stopping here until we find Tobias and Rachel. The cover's completely blown now if that David guy has gotten Tobias."

"Aye, aye, captain," said Marco, and we exchanged looks. Marco's Jake's best bud, and even though I'm not too close to him, we always kinda bond over what we know is best for Jake. And seeing that Jake was showing some of his old self – I could see in Marco's small smirk that he was glad, just like I was.

"I'm thinking..." Jake eyed Marco. "Since it's the only place we know so far that has all these crazy shit going on – we should really check out The Sharing. It's got a lab where Cassie was nearly operated on, all these suspicious-looking meeting rooms..."

"And that lab was in the basement with many other rooms there," finished Marco. "I'll handle it. Can't wait to knock that creep down a few pegs."

"You can't go alone," I protested. "As much as I would love to write him off, David's pretty smart, and I'm pretty sure he's got a big creature like Crayak watching his back."

"Crayak? For sure?" Ax wondered. Then he furrowed his eyebrows and remained deep in thought.

"I'll set off first," said Marco. "No time to lose. You guys can catch up later."

With that, Marco ran out of the barn.

Loren stared after him, then looked back at the rest of us. "You lot are extraordinary," she said, her eyes shining. "You're just – sixteen, and all of you – the way you are – seems to me like you've lived half your life already."

"Or most of it," I replied, grimly. "Seeing that the end might be near."

"Cassie!" Jake chastised.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Always find it useful to douse myself in reality every now and then."

I could feel Ax staring at me, but I refused to meet his gaze.

"As for Rachel..." Jake looked a bit helpless.

"If I know Rachel, if she's not caught yet, she'll be after Tobias," I said. "No way she's gonna give up by just going home. I'm gonna give her home a call and tell them she's sleeping over at my place. Even if she does go home, I'm sure she'll be able to crap up something."

I made my way back into the house and headed straight for my bedroom. I picked up the phone and dialled Rachel's house number. Jordan picked up.

"Hey, Jordan!" I said, brightly. "Cassie here!"

"Oh, Cassie?" Jordan sounded almost relieved. "Good, do you know where Rachel is?"

My eyes widened. "Oh – about that – I, err, just wanted to tell you that she's sleeping over at my place tonight!"

Jordan sighed. "Can you tell my big princess sister to at least write a damned note about where she's heading to for the night next time? I'd think she's kidnapped one day and never bother to ransom her and that's all because it's her own damn fault..."

I chuckled nervously.

"...but that's not the point. The point is, Melissa's here looking for her. Shall I send her over?"

I froze. Wait, Melissa? Melissa Chapman? What – was she – should I...

"She says she has something... wait, hang on, I'll let her speak to you."

There was some shuffling over the phone before Melissa's soft voice floated through the phone.

"Hey, Cassie?"

_Are you a Controller?_

I snapped out of my reverie in time to reply, "Hey! Melissa! Been a while, huh."

"Mm, yeah..." Melissa sounded like she was frowning. "Haven't really seen you around for a _really_ long time."

"Uh-huh. Yeah."

"Anyway, I have something for Rachel. Maybe you could check with her if she wants it?"

"What is it?"

"It's a package from David."

I froze again.

"_David?_" I squeaked.

"Yeah, David Jennings. You know, the one with the tufty hair. He, Rachel and I hang out quite a bit – something you missed out on since you've been hanging around Jake, Cass." And I swear Melissa's voice had a tinge of amusement in it.

But I was more concerned about the fact that Rachel in this reality had actually hung out with _David_. "R-right. Yeah, I know him. What does he want to give to her?"

"Not sure what it is, but he wanted me to hand it over to her."

"You mean, David asked _you_ to pass it to her?"

"Yeah! I was at his house yesterday and he wasn't feeling too well, so I offered to help him deliver it."

_Not feeling too well, my foot!_ _Going around morphing into lions and kidnapping people, more like it. _"Oh – erm, sure, I could – err – go and collect it..."

"Oh, no, I was told to give it to her directly," said Melissa. "Not sure what's so big about this, but he was pretty adamant about it, so – well."

There was no way Melissa was giving anything from David directly to Rachel. Not that Rachel was present to receive it anyway. I had to make a hasty decision.

"In that case... come over then."

"Great, thanks and see you!"

After Melissa hung up, I raced back to the barn.

"What is it?" Jake asked, alarmed.

"I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news," I said. "But I've found someone who knows David in this reality, and might lead us to him."

"That's good news, of course!" said Jake.

Ax didn't seem too certain. Loren raised her eyebrows.

"Bad news is," I took a deep breath, "her father's also a Controller and she's heading over right now with a package from him addressed to Rachel."

Jake looked completely lost, but Ax had seemingly mastered the art of thoughtful human expression.

I took another deep breath. "Okay. What now?"


	29. Chapter 28

**A/N:** I know, I know, I'm not delivering on my promise of being on-time, so this fic feels like it's moving quite slow! My sincere apologies :( But really - my focus is on characterisation, so hopefully you'll still keep on with this (: I like to sneak in bits of canon so hope this also helps to be a little nostalgic step back into the books (: Enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

::Marco::

I had completely lost track of how many hours or days it had been since this nightmare had begun. I didn't even really want to think about it, but it hit me when I took flight as an osprey for the third? fourth? fifth? time and thought about my dad at home.

Yeah, my dad at home. The one that doesn't know what the hell is going on. As much as I wanted to deny his existence for the one that was living in a cabin in the Hork-Bajir valley several time warps away, I couldn't help wondering what would happen if I went back to the house only after several nights. What would he say? Would he be frightened if I went missing? Would he accept the fact after his wife had disappeared too? What would become of him?

Actually, it's only been a day since I last saw this man, but it tore me apart to think about it.

So how did David feel when his parents got turned into Controllers?

When everything was taken away from him, including his humanity?

When we were the ones who did it?

Okay, I'm not trying to be philosophical here, but when you're flying and there're no thermals and you have to flap goddamn hard in order to keep going, it's not exactly the most enjoyable journey. So I think. A lot.

I think about Dad and Mom.

I think about what David wants. Of course, revenge.

But how can he obtain it? Why does he have the ability to morph in this reality? How was he able to have the upper hand all this time?

He had to have struck a deal with someone. Someone omnipotent. The natural option was Crayak, but something bugged me. Crayak could do it on his own – create an alternate reality. Why did he need to strike a deal with that bugger of a David? Why would he grant David so many benefits when the boy had nothing to offer him? Did Crayak hate us so much that he was willing to jump at any opportunity to torture us?

Okay, shut up, Marco, I said to myself as I circled over The Sharing below. Time to get into action.

I landed on a nearby tree that had a great vantage point. I could see through one of the windows in the main hall of the building that there were a few people gathered there. One of them was Tom. Another was...

Visser Three in human morph.

"...time to get them."

"Visser, it is the most opportune...?"

"You will do as I say," snapped Visser Three. "We need access to the paediatric section of the hospital, and I trust you know why."

"The children," said Tom, smiling sinisterly. "The children are our future."

"Yes. And your host is the son of paediatricians. How perfect."

There was silence. I tilted my head to get a better view.

"What is wrong?" demanded Visser Three.

"S-sorry," said Tom, clearly discomfited. "M-my host was rebelling."

Visser Three snorted. "You should know better, Filar One-Three-Six-Six, about self-control."

"Yes, Visser," said Tom.

There was some more activity going on, but I heard enough. There were far too many priorities now and they were all bad enough to warrant the attention of all of us. I struggled to take flight as my thoughts came flooding in again.

Jake could _not_ lose his parents. No, we let it happen once. It won't happen again.

I _couldn't_ let it happen again.

Especially not to someone who barely even knew what shit he was in right now.

-.-.-.-.-.-

I was hoping I didn't have to see this look on Jake's face again.

Turns out I'm not really a lucky charmer.

The incredulity morphed into horror, then back into skepticism, and then about a few other emotions flitted across his pale face. Cassie was rolling her eyes while Ax remained grave. It was Loren who broke the silence.

"Umm, hello? Is this your plan? Just standing around here and receiving all these bad news?" Loren got up from the hay bale. "I need to remind you that my _son_ is currently in the hands of some psychomaniac, and all you guys are doing is just gathering intelligence? What about some action?" Her sarcasm cut through all of our thoughts and I found myself glaring at her.

"What?" Loren returned the glare. "Excuse me for doubting your capabilities when despite the fact that all of you can turn into dangerous-looking creatures, you're still sixteen-year-olds at heart!"

"We still have to wait for Melissa to bring the package," said Cassie. "That might give us some clues as to where David might be."

Jake was gripping onto a nearby table, his face becoming whiter by the minute.

I chewed on my bottom lip. "You know what? We have to kidnap Melissa when she comes. There's no way we're going to get anything out of her unless we ask the necessary questions."

"That's going to add to the list of problems we already have," snapped Cassie.

"Oh, you have a better plan, Miss Know-It-All?" I retorted.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do."

All of us turned to stare at her.

"This should have been fleshed out about an hour ago!" Loren folded her arms, eyes flashing.

"I'm proposing..." Cassie shot a grim look at Jake. "That we give them what they want."

"Are you kidding?" I whispered. I couldn't help that my voice was shaking.

"With extra toppings."

I stared at Cassie.

"We give them another two people they want. Jake, we need your help. You're going to be part of this."

"Part of turning his parents into Controllers?" I seethed.

Cassie rolled her eyes again. "Come _on_, Marco. This reality isn't real! Our priority now is to save Tobias and Rachel and get the hell out of this place! Oh, and maybe some side servings of burnt Yeerks. I don't mind that."

The bloodthirstiness in Cassie's voice was irking me terribly. I may have appreciated it on a day of battle, especially when Cassie usually gets all mopey about killing innocent people and stuff, but now was definitely not the time that I needed a Rachel-like Cassie.

"That's easy for you to say," I said, sharply. "Jake here believes this reality is real. This is real for him. And there's no way he's gonna let his parents follow in the footsteps of Tom – knowing what this Yeerks can do to them! Come on, Cassie, you of all people should understand that!"

"Let her finish," said Ax, quietly. I shot him an incredulous look.

"As I was saying," Cassie's voice carried a hint of annoyance, "Jake, we're going to need you to pretend to be a Controller and be at home very soon, just in time to catch your parents being taken away."

"What?" I began, horrified, but Cassie continued, "And you're going to tell Tom that as you watched your parents being taken away, two other people noticed it."

"You're implicating other people in this? Are you out of your mind?" I couldn't believe what Cassie was saying.

"I do not follow you," said Ax.

"You're going to tell them who this two people are, because you know who they are."

"And who are they?" I asked, for Jake was too bewildered to say anything.

Cassie's eyes glinted. "People who will make David come out from his hiding place."

It took me all of two seconds to reply.

"Are. You. INSANE?"


	30. Chapter 29

**A/N:** Two new chapters! Enjoy (:

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

::Rachel::

I was shaking so badly that I could hardly feel anything anymore.

All I could focus on was the figures on the television screen before me.

Tobias.

_David._

My throat felt parched just with the mere thought of him. As a human, no less.

In case you didn't know – David doesn't exist in our old reality anymore.

There, I said it. He doesn't.

Thanks to me.

"You couldn't have done this all on your own!" Tobias's voice shook me out of my reverie. "It's Crayak, isn't it?"

I watched as David threw his hands up in a mocking manner. "Believe what you want. This was completely my idea."

Of course it was his idea. Only he would know us well enough to screw things up for us so perfectly.

"Because," he continued, "if I didn't choose to come back to do this to all of you, I would be nothing. Not even a rat. You know why?"

I froze. No. _No._ Tobias didn't know anything. No...

"Because your girlfriend killed me."

I could hardly breathe.

"And I'm here for revenge."

Tobias didn't say anything for a long while, and I literally felt like _dying_ there and then. I couldn't face him anymore – I couldn't face the rest! Cassie – I was sure she knew, but – oh _god_! I let out a string of profanities and screamed, but there was nobody there to listen.

Or at least I thought so, for David's surreptitious glance towards the ceiling where the camera must have been hidden made me wonder for a split second if he could hear me.

"Crayak doesn't make deals," said Tobias, coldly. "Unless you can offer him something, and you have _nothing. _Who are you working for?"

David hissed. "I have nothing _because of you jerks!_" Then he smirked."But you are right, I have teamed up with someone else, someone else who has given me the power to do this, to alter our original timeline and let me do whatever I want. Isn't that amazing? To have so much power in your hands? I literally created this world!"

He burst out laughing. "It's like I'm God!"

I clenched my fists, but a millisecond later, I was huddling within myself, trying not to scream as the bonds bit into my sides.

Tobias looked positively murderous. "You son of a bitch. You can't play with time and space so easily. It's going to come and bite you in the ass, mark my words."

"Ooh..." David whistled. "Touchy, touchy. You see, you happen to be my prisoner, not only in these four walls, but also in this _time and space_, so I'm not going to argue with you over something that has a very simple conclusion."

He edged away from Tobias and stared straight at the camera. I flinched upon seeing his smirk feature prominently before me.

"I wanted you all to experience what it is like to lose something so important. _Someone_ so important to me."

My breath hitched.

"But then, you know what?" David's lip curled even more. "I think I'm just going to do baby steps first. I'm not going to make you all lose something so tangible from the outset. I want you all to..."

He grinned. "Lose your minds."

"Get over and done with it, David," said Tobias, seething. "I know you've wanted to kill me a long time ago."

David shot a parting smirk at the camera and headed towards Tobias. I flinched again, and winced.

No, _no._ That was the only word echoing in my head as I watched helplessly.

"Oh, Tobias, ever so self-sacrificial. Tell me, if you had been in a rat morph, would you have been so willing to give up your humanity?"

Tobias hissed.

I didn't want to hear his answer anyway.

_Just kill me._

I swallowed.

_‹Just kill me.›_ _David's voice echoed in my mind, ever so softly, almost pleading._

_"I'm one of the good guys," I whispered. My hands were trembling. Somebody – tell me what to do, please!_

_‹Then do the right thing.›_

Was it the right thing to do?

What's right anymore, anyway?

Even on a grainy television screen, I could make out utter devastation on Tobias's expression when David had told him the truth.

Guess what, Tobias? I'm no more a predator than you are. I guess you've always known that. I've always been so much more than the personification of _Xena: Warrior Princess. _

It was like I was on crack or something. My insides were on fire, my head was positively spinning and I was getting all choked up. I never felt so useless and helpless before. I was scrabbling deep within me for an ounce of courage, an ounce of reality, but – crap, the word 'reality' doesn't feature here anymore, does it?

"Think, Rachel," I whispered. "Think."

The first person that came to my mind when I thought of rationality was Cassie. Strangely enough, considering she can get pretty emotional sometimes. But thinking of Cassie made me think of what I did to David, so I shoved her out.

Marco. Marco was always the practical one. Cynical, sometimes. But he knew when to put his foot down and use his head. But Marco was the one who introduced us to David.

I slammed my head back into the wall in frustration and thought I saw stars.

Jake. Leader of the Animorphs. _Come on, Rachel!_

I could only think of the fact that Jake – _this_ Jake – was not the one that our group needed.

Ax! Yes, Ax, the most logical and rational one, when he was not around Cinnabon and Starbucks at least. Yes. What was I supposed to think about?

Crayak. Ellimist. They could manipulate time strands. I could almost hear Ax's voice in my head dissecting the capabilities of these creatures. All logical, rational people. They could show us future possibilities and create worlds for us to venture into. Alternate realities, yes.

But personality differences? With our own memories intact?

Yeah, I could definitely feel the difference of being recklessly brave like before, and being hopelessly frightened like now.

We had this really strange experience once going back to World War times and we took on slave-master and youth soldier personas. But we weren't even playing roles, it was as if we were shoved into some educational lesson and made to see how things played out.

Agency.

_That's it!_ I thought frantically. We were active players here. And there was no way, like what Tobias said, that Crayak and Ellimist made a deal with that slimy little...

I had to steady myself again.

"What is going on?" I shrieked, to no one.

A few seconds later, and I was shrieking again when I watched Tobias get taken unaware and was severely punched into a corner by David.

"Oh my God!"

Tobias made to lunge for David, but the latter was faster and tripped him, causing him to land on his back with a loud thud. Tobias groaned so loudly that I clutched at myself.

David was getting into my mind. He knew how important Tobias was to me and he was doing this to torture _me_. Everything about him screamed revenge, and there was no stopping him.

There had to be something to stop him. I focused on Ax's strangely calming voice in my memory, speaking of logical and rational things about science, morphing, DNA, Z-space, whatever... there would be something, _something_ at least that would get this little creep down.

_Something._


	31. Chapter 30

**CHAPTER THIRTY**

::Ax::

"Let's do it."

That phrase is a very familiar one. Rachel likes to say it, and following that, Marco will say, "And here we go."

I'm not so sure what he means by that, but I know that Rachel says it like a pre-war ritual. That is not very comforting, by any means.

"No," said Marco, instantly. "This is _beyond_ insane. Cassie, we are not risking two innocent people's lives by framing them as witnesses. And you jolly well know that these two people are the reason why David has made a whole mess out of this reality. And how the hell is payback for Jake's parents, using _David's_ parents any better?"

"I didn't say it was better," said Cassie, coldly. "I just said that it will draw him out."

Loren threw her hands up in frustration. "If you all aren't going to save Tobias, I'm going to!"

"Wait!" Prince Jake called out, and Loren froze. "Please. We promise to save them." His voice was shaking, which is quite unlike Prince Jake. "But we have to take one step at a time. There's still Melissa to handle and..."

Loren looked like she wanted to argue, but Prince Jake's white face must have convinced otherwise. She scowled and turned away.

"Jake, please," said Marco, urgently. "There has to be some other way."

"Oh, and now you're the morally responsible one," muttered Cassie. "How about backing me up the last few times I argued about ethics?"

Marco's eyes flashed.

While the two of them continued the debate, I couldn't help but wonder more about who was the real mastermind behind all this. If it wasn't clear to the others, it was definitely clear to me that while this being was powerful and omniscient in some ways, there was no way he could have done anything to our personalities. No being in this universe could. All the folk tales that my people passed down from generation to generation... the message was subtle, yet clear. The most powerful of them all in the universe could manipulate many, many things. But they could not manipulate what was inside you, and that is the core of your life. The inner self has a sanctity so powerful that it resists all external forces.

So, for all the Ellimists and Crayaks in the universe, what they could only do when they played with the strands of time and space, was to create situations and scenarios and...

I blinked.

...and avatars.

‹_Aximili._›

_I stopped scraping in the ground with my hoof, embarrassed. I kicked up the dirt nonchalantly, but it was still not very nice to be found drawing figures on the ground instead of practising tailfighting. After virtual training, I usually imagine so much that I find myself too lazy to do any physical activities. Which is of course, quite unbecoming._

‹_Yes, my Prince._›

_Elfangor galloped over and eyed the clouds of dirt billowing around me. _

‹_What were you drawing?_›

‹_Nothing._›

_Elfangor twisted his stalk eyes, then laughed quietly._ ‹_It is you and me, is it not? On the bridge of a ship. Not that I can really make out the setting with your artistic capabilities, but I was talking to Prince Sirrah just now, and he told me what training you were undergoing earlier on._›

‹_I want to be just as good as you in the future,_›_ I blurted. _‹_I don't want to have to imagine it through game avatars, I want to be on that bridge with you._›

‹_And you will be, Aximili. One day._›_ Elfangor looked straight at me, and I truly believed him._

‹_At least, you must be practicing diligently,_›_ he added, as he turned to head back to the academy._

I clenched my fists as I thought harder.

Many warriors of the universe made use of avatars, particularly the Andalites, to simulate possible scenarios. But we were also warned that there might be those powerful enough to create a scenario existing simultaneously with reality, and if the game master did not end it, it could become a parallel universe and create chaos in the time-space dimension.

And this was what it was – _a game._ An illusory situation.

We were all avatars. Our consciousness had been transplanted into these modified avatars. That didn't exactly explain Prince Jake's loss of memory, but it certainly explained how we could be so different. And it certainly explained why I was known as Phillip in this reality. The boy Phillip didn't exist in the other reality, so he could only be a created persona. Therefore, this was no alternate reality with its own time strand, it was merely a setting that we had been brought into. The others had told me of a very strange situation they were once in, imagining themselves to be playing roles of other personas – I remember Cassie being distraught as she retold her position of being a slave-mistress.

But as I have mentioned earlier, the consequences of this game are deadly. This is no entertainment, but everything about strategy – and power. If somebody could play a game upon David's terms, this was definitely no ordinary deal. The only way that this illusion could be broken – and it _had _to be, for creating a rupture in the time-space dimension is almost a taboo in the galaxy – would be that if the instigator voluntarily chooses to end the game, and it almost seems impossible for David to back off so easily.

‹Cassie.›

Cassie jerked slightly, surprised by my sudden thoughtspeech.

‹Are you certain that your plan will work? Will David respond appropriately?›

I have grown better at reading human expressions, and I was certain the momentary look on Cassie's face spelt hesitance. But it flitted by, and she nodded imperceptibly. I had to trust her. However ruthless she may be here, she was the one who had accurately predicted David's emotional responses back then.

"I know what's best for the group," said Cassie, assertively, as though she were assuring me as well.

"You're nothing but a fired-up psychomaniac now, Cassie!" Marco hissed. "I mean, listen to yourself!"

Sometimes, human arguments only serve to add a layer of fatigue to my physical and mental states even though I am not a participant. I believe it has something to do with the questionable level of logic and rationality involved.

"How could you – this is just insane," Marco ranted, "and it's too dangerous for Jake. There's no way he's impersonating a Controller when – when he's–"

"I can do it," said Jake, quietly. "I think I've seen enough."

"It's getting way too dark," said Loren, to no one in particular. She had been staring out of the barn into the night sky. Time was strangely lenient to us, I thought to myself. I found myself thinking slightly fondly of Aunt Sal and pancakes, and briefly wondered if she was waiting in the kitchen with a plate of them.

"Melissa should be coming anytime," said Cassie. "We need to move, stat."

"This is bullshit. I mean–"

"Marco, can you please stop babbling about–"

"Babbling? Excuse me, Cassie, can you just hear–"

" –what happened to rational arguments, about looking at the _big_ picture and–"

"–getting carried away by the adrenaline of–"

"–not like Rachel!"

Prince Jake slapped his forehead while Loren's back was still facing us.

Meanwhile, I wonder what is the longest time a human argument has lasted.

* * *

**A/N: **If anybody wonders if this is the same kind of 'illusory situation' that Megamorphs 4 showed, it is quite similar, just that MM4's time strand began by altering one decision made by Jake to change the whole course of time from then on and the characters had no memory of the original reality except for the anomaly that was Cassie. In here, the characters' consciousness was transplanted into pre-moulded avatars in a game setting, a world completely parallel to that of reality. Cassie doesn't remember enough of the 'alternate reality' in MM4 to have sufficiently educated the rest on any concept of this, hence Ax gives a more detailed explanation on what could have happened.

If it is confusing, maybe as you read on, it may become clearer as I let the characters discover more for themselves and find out how to escape this 'game'.


	32. Chapter 31

**CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE**

::Jake::

I've known Marco for a long time, and I've never seen him argue so passionately about something unless it involved arcade games or cheerleaders whom he never really gets to date. Most of the time, he's pretty easygoing and just takes things as they are. But this time, he was getting into a major tiff – with Cassie, of all people – over _my _parents, and God, this whole thing is beyond insane.

"I said I'll do it!" I repeated, exasperated.

Strangely enough, Marco finally stopped arguing and said, "Alright, you said it. Fine. Now let's do it."

"Marco..." Cassie began, startled.

"You win, alright?" Marco snapped. "There's no time left if we want to do this!"

In no time, we were birds up in the air – Marco had been one for the umpteenth time today, given the amount of spying and rescuing we had to do. But I wasn't so concerned about him anymore. The closer we flew to my house, the more frightened I became.

‹Jake? Buddy, you're so quiet it's kinda scary. We're going to beat this thing, okay.›

‹Right.› I knew I sounded sarcastic, but I let it go. I wasn't in the mood to over-analyse anything.

‹You don't have to flap so hard. It's pretty breezy for night-time. Just relax and ride the thermals.›

Okay, relaxing really wasn't something my body was reacting to at the moment, but I opened my wings and just let myself float. Morphing was crazy cool, but I couldn't enjoy any bit of it considering it was also screwing up my life at the same –

‹There they are!› I gasped.

Below us, a black car was parked outside my house, and my parents were being ushered out of the house by a couple of men. But it wasn't any ordinary form of ushering... from ground level, they could barely be seen, but from aerial view, their hands were behind their backs, and they were _struggling_.

‹Marco...› I whispered, shakily. ‹Please...›

‹Dude, get a grip. Jake...›

I swooped down.

‹JAKE!

I was heading for the man who was going towards the driver's seat. Sunglasses. Leather jacket. You're _dead meat._

‹Jake, you ass...›

WHUMP!

The impact sent me reeling – instinctively, the bird brain took over and my wings flapped frantically as I let out a squawk.

‹Oh my God, shut up!›

The men looked up, but then another bird – Marco – swooped towards me and began pecking at me.

‹What the hell are you doing?› I screamed.

‹Pretending to attack you like a normal bird?› hissed Marco. ‹Don't you see? There's no way...›

‹I SEE THAT!› I roared, lunging back at him, but Marco is definitely more experienced in flight. He expertly veered away and began flapping towards a tree. I was beyond caring anymore; sure, when Cassie had brought up the idea, I was going to do it, just like a freakin' _leader_ should, but just seeing them below... I couldn't take it anymore.

‹Let it go, Jake!›

‹You try letting it go when it's your dad – damn it, Marco!› I yelled as the car drove off. ‹I could have stopped them!›

‹You agreed to go on Cassie's awesome plan, so quit yelling,› Marco snapped. ‹You think I don't know what it's like to watch from the sidelines and be completely helpless? I could have saved my mom a long time ago, when we were spying on the Yeerk mothership, but _no_, I had to be a freakin' good Animorph and obey orders – _yours_, mind you – and pretend to be a stupid gorilla instead of snatching her up and tossing her back to Earth.›

‹Yeah, you know what, you have her back now. In that oh-so-exciting reality of yours,› I replied, coldly. ‹And guess what, this has _been my life_ and you all are RUINING it!›

‹Way to get angsty now, Jake. Remember what we're here for?›

I had a hard time calming myself down.

‹Jake?›

‹No. _No._›

My talons raked out to grab the branch on which Marco was also resting upon now. ‹I... Christ. Okay. Just say it again. Distract me.›

Marco let out an irritated sigh. ‹You're supposed to pretend to be a Controller and tell Tom that your parents' 'arrest' by the Yeerks has been spied on by humans who have managed to escape the Yeerk pool. Tell them it's a dark blue Audi with the license plate number 422 TEK.› He chuckled bitterly. ‹Yup, that's right, I caught sight of it while we flew over David's house just now.›

‹Right, and you didn't even tell me which house was his,› I said, sourly. ‹I feel like the greatest leader on Earth.›

‹You are, buddy, always will be,› said Marco, solemnly. ‹Just not now.›

I don't know what was compelling me to listen to Marco like he was making the most sense ever. Even when my parents were being mind-controlled by evil alien slugs. God, this was just beyond insane.

I demorphed in the shadows of my yard and walked to the front door. I took a deep breath and banged hard on the door.

Tom opened it and glared at me. "Midget, don't you have manners? We have a damned doorbell for a–"

"You cut the crap," I hissed and shoved him back into the house. Tom's eyes flared as I slammed the door behind me. I narrowed my eyes and jabbed a finger into his shoulder. He swiped it away angrily and was about to protest when I curled my lip.

His eyes flickered.

"You _fool_." I gritted my teeth. "How could you let this happen in broad daylight?"

"Jake, what the hell are you–" Tom stared at me in complete confusion.

"You know this is not going to get you any sympathy points with Visser Three."

Tom froze.

I smirked. "Always so careful to keep that cover, my comrade. But so careless to bring a car full of Controllers to this house in full view of those who have actually escaped our grasp."

Tom narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand the gibberish you're talking."

"Shall I be more explicit?" I cocked my head to the side. At the same time, I was desperately trying to recall what Cassie and Marco had told me to say earlier – the shock of seeing my parents being taken away by these scumbags had rattled me so much that I was having trouble trying to calm myself down, let alone put on a full performance for Tom's Yeerk. "You are lower in rank than me, and there are stories you do not know. Stories of humans who have run away. They have been elusive for a while – changed their identity and disguised themselves. But lately we have tracked them down, and just when we are about to get them, you choose to stage this little intervention before their very eyes."

Tom stared at me in disbelief. "You–" He took a step back, his face contorting a little. For a moment, I thought I saw my brother – my _real_ brother – staring at me. Then a smirk overcame his face. "So the midget's done for, is he?"

"He walked into The Sharing looking for you and we decided not to risk it anymore." I sneered.

"What is your name?" Tom demanded. "I am privy to a good amount of information myself."

‹Iniss Four-Five-Five, of the Sulp Niaar Pool,› said Marco, immediately. I repeated the name, even though I had no idea what that even meant. The Yeerks named their _pools_?

Tom hesitated. "I have heard of you. I did not realise you were promoted."

‹That was supposed to be Melissa Chapman's Yeerk. That was one of the first Yeerk names we ever knew and I just remembered it for convenience's sake,› explained Marco, even though I didn't understand what he had just said.

"There will be time for you to catch up on such information later, fool. Now stop changing the subject!" I paused to gather my thoughts, before continuing, "The problem is that these humans who have run away once have now witnessed your taking away of your host's parents. They are going to suspect that you are a Controller as well and if we do not get them in time, your cover is blown! Do you not understand the severity of this issue?"

It dawned upon Tom's Yeerk, and the smirk was wiped off his face completely. "Y-yes. I realise it now."

"_Good_." I tried to sound as condescending as possible.

"But why do you not go after them yourself?" Tom's voice was heavy with suspicion.

"My host actually knows who these humans are, but I believe that it is _your_ responsibility to tell Visser Three that. If _I_ turn them in to Visser Three and he finds out that you have been careless, what do you think will happen?"

Tom curled his lip. "I'm surprised you would let me off."

I barked out a harsh laugh. "If you are indebted to me, it is beneficial to me, no?"

Tom's Yeerk didn't seem to like that idea at all, but he got the gist of it. He had to get David's parents before they started pulling off the cover of my family. _My family_. The Yeerks that had got hold of my family, that is.

Damn it.

Once I had told Tom where David and his parents lived and he had made the call to his fellow Yeerks, I left the house and demorphed in the shadows. I was trembling with rage while I made the transition to falcon, but there was nothing I could do. Or so Marco said. And Cassie. And all of them who think they can control the _world_ –

‹To The Sharing,› announced Marco. ‹They should reach there with David's parents in no time. And then our showdown can begin.›

‹I look forward to it,› I replied, bitterly.


	33. Chapter 32

**A/N:** Two-in-one update! So sorry :x Happy New Year, everyone! (:

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO**

::Tobias::

I couldn't control myself anymore.

I drew back my fists and lunged at the bastard before me.

_"Because your girlfriend killed me."_

David was faster; he turned slightly and stuck out his foot before I could react. I tried to right myself but ended up spinning around and falling hard on my back.

"Argh!" I yelled.

"Come on, Bird-boy, that all you got?" asked David, smirking.

"Is she here?" I demanded. "Do you have her here too?"

"Her?" David raised his eyebrow. "You mean Rachel?"

I wish I had my killer raptor gaze right now so I could fry this guy alive. "Just because I can't morph doesn't mean I won't go all out to _destroy_ you, David. You talk about us losing humanity for the war? Well, this is it. Because people like you push us to the damned limit!"

David's cocky gaze faltered for a bit, but he resumed it in a second. "I'm not going to waste my time listening to you threaten me, Tobias. All I have to do is to morph and you'd be wiped out completely. Why would you do that when you're supposed to save someone?"

My eyes widened. So Rachel was here after all!

Before I could react, David's foot went down hard on me. I fell back against the ground, struggling and wincing all at once. Oh, to be a hawk again to claw out that jerk's eyes!

It was then that something flashed before my eyes.

_"Tobias, don't eat the wrapper, for God's sake!" A hand reached out to my lollipop and I jerked back instantly. No way was anybody going to take my sweet._

_"Tobias!"_

_It was the only thing I wanted, and now that I got it, I was going to do whatever I wanted with it._

_"Tobias, I'm telling you... AHHH!"_

_My head shot up and it banged backwards against the seat. A boy was in front – no, no!_

_AHHHHH! I screamed, but no sound came out. MOMMY, HE'S GOING TO DIE!_

_"AHHHHH!" My mother screamed with all her might as she tried to brake in time. The little boy fell backwards in shock just as the car came to a stop. But I saw his eyes – his frightened eyes as he stared straight at me._

_It was my fault. I had not listened to my mother and she had nearly run him down. _

_My fault!_

A sharp blow to my face brought me back to reality – which was David towering over me with his boot near my cheek. I punched away his foot, only to have him bend down and connect his fist with my jaw. I groaned loudly as the taste of bitter iron flooded my mouth.

"Not so brave anymore, are you, my little hawk?"

What was this memory? Why was I having this memory? I knew _nothing_ about my mother. _Nothing!_ How could she have –

"Thinking about a way to escape? I suggest you leave it. Ain't gonna happen." David smirked once again.

Then I looked into his eyes.

And drew a sharp breath.

Those eyes...

_The little boy scrambled up, his tiny body shivering._

_I wanted to open my mouth and tell him it was all right. Mom got out of the car._

_But he ran away._

_I wanted to say I was sorry. But he was gone._

What?

I struggled to sit up. David was moving towards the door. I had to say something. I couldn't let him go to Rachel and hurt her.

"Were you knocked down once?" I blurted. "Nearly knocked down, I mean."

David stopped short. Then he looked at me in amazement. "What?"

"When you were like – I don't know..." I tried to recall. "Five? Four? Six?"

David laughed hollowly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"In this reality," I clarified. "You've been stuck in this reality for the past sixteen years. I can't believe it."

"No!" David said, instantly. "Not that –" He narrowed his eyes. "What do you know?"

I wheezed as I leant against the wall. "I don't know. All I know is that if you've been here for a while, that sucks big time. I've only been here for a few days and I'm hating it to the core already."

David barked out a laugh again. "Seriously? I mean, I control this shit. I'd definitely make my life more pleasant than yours, don't you think? Besides, I didn't have to _stay_ here, that's stupid. I just went back in this timeline once before I came to the present. I'm smarter than you think I am."

He said the last bit a little angrily.

Only once? If David had to change one thing in our timeline, which would it be? What would have resulted in things turning out this way?

Of course. There would only be one incident. He would have diverted us from the construction site. He knew that was where everything began. Jake knew nothing, which meant we couldn't have cut through the site. But then why did I have that strange memory of the near-car accident? What was that supposed to mean? That little boy...

"Maybe you landed at a point in time you weren't supposed to be in," I said.

David's eyes flickered. A sense of triumph gnawed at me.

"You think you know a lot about us," I said. "But you don't. And you don't realise what your actions have done."

David scoffed and reached out for the doorknob.

"In this reality, my mother is alive," I whispered. "I never went to school. I was homeschooled and hardly left the house. Which means I would have never met Jake and the rest."

David's hand froze.

"Which means, I couldn't have gone to the construction site with them."

David turned around slowly, his eyes now filled with a strange emotion that I couldn't decipher. But I was getting to him. I knew I was.

Then he burst out laughing again. "So what? It doesn't matter. You're still in this position. Jake managed to find you. You were going to be enrolled in the school and now you're here. My prisoner. It doesn't change anything."

He ran a hand through the tufts of his hair. "You see, apart from altering time, I happen to be given the power to alter personalities as well. Which is why none of you feel the same way as you do before. And that way, you are severely handicapped because I know those bits of your personalities are really what makes you _you._ Don't you miss your wings, little Birdie?"

I tried to flex my arm, but a sharp pain shot through my bones and I gritted my teeth.

"The Yeerks want you so, _so_ badly. Maybe they haven't been exposed to the Andalite resistance yet in this reality," said David, pretending to look thoughtful. "But I'll make sure it doesn't start. And they'll just get you on a silver platter. How exciting."

He still didn't get it. Ax had educated us time and again on the perils of toying with time. This was no game David should have indulged in from the start.

As he left the room, I curled into a ball, trying my best to ignore the agonising pains shooting up in all directions within me. There was no doubt that eventually, David would have to pay the price for meddling with what he shouldn't have meddled with in the first place.


	34. Chapter 33

**CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE**

::Cassie::

While Jake and Marco were out executing the plan, I left Ax in the barn while I went to my bathroom to wash my face. I soaked my skin in my wet cupped palms, then looked at the reflection in the mirror before me. Marco's accusations of _fired-up psychomaniac_ were still stinging. I wondered how Rachel took all our suspicious looks in the past when we all simultaneously thought she was going to combust from the adrenaline rush of battles.

_Cassie, you did the right thing. That plan is going to draw David out. You know it._

I switched off the running water, grabbed a towel to wipe my face and headed out of my room.

"Cassie?"

I jerked back to look at my mom at the dining table. She was doing the accounts for the clinic and looked surprisedly at me. "Are you going out? It's really late."

"Oh no," I said, hurriedly. "I was just mucking out the stables. I want to sing lullabies to the birds next."

My mom chuckled. "Don't be too late, honey."

"I won't," I said, fervently hoping that I wouldn't have to.

Just as I reached the barn entrance, a shadow passed by my front gate. I tiptoed to get a better look, and when the streetlights proved unhelpful, I edged closer to the gate.

"Who's there?"

"Oh, Cassie!" There was a sigh of relief. "Good God, don't you have a doorbell of sorts? I wasn't sure if I had to holler or something."

I unlocked the gate, feeling my heart beat a lot faster at the sight of Melissa Chapman. She handed the package over – it was a small box wrapped in brown paper. "Can you get Rachel to come out? I want to tear her hair out for making her run after her in this neighbourhood, which thank God, is fairly small."

"For some reason, she's really knocked out," I said, with a fake smile. "We had a bit of a pillow fight and she – uhh – just started dozing off after a while."

"It's early for a pillow fight," said Melissa, chuckling. "Anyway, I gotta run, can't stay too long out late like this."

"Hey, before you go," I said, clutching onto the package. "Umm, how do you know David?"

Melissa looked at me questioningly.

"Rachel talks to me sometimes about him..." I said. "And I _swear_ she has a crush on him."

_What? What did I just say?_

Melissa gaped. "You're not serious!" She did look quite shocked, so I shrugged and said, "Oh well, just one of my lousy hunches. I'm just interested to know who this guy is."

Melissa let out a small giggle. "His mom hit it off with my mom at the local community centre where they do yoga together on weekday nights. So we go over to their house sometimes, and vice versa."

"How long ago was that?"

"Oh, a couple of months or so? When _you_ started hanging out with Jake," said Melissa. She grinned in the dim light.

Had David _lived_ through this life in this reality? Had he gone through the years in some twisted time sense in order to get to where he was now, making a sick joke out of befriending Rachel and torturing us? If it was really the case, that guy was beyond psychotic.

"Actually..." said Melissa, biting her lip. "I think he might reciprocate it."

"Really?" I stared at her.

"I've kind of suspected it all along, he's always looking at her! He's always like... asking her stuff and always calling me to arrange a gathering and, you know..." Melissa burst into little giggles.

I felt a little lighthearted as I spoke, "Melissa, do you think you could do me a favour?"

Melissa scrunched up her face. "Cassie, you and Rachel will owe me BIG time if you need me to do anything more for you two at this hour."

"Look, I'm sorry, but can you get David out for me? It's really, really urgent!"

Melissa raised her eyebrows. "What? Whatever for?"

"I, uhh..." I struggled to find a reason. _Come on, Cassie, you're pretty good at last-minute stories._ "Well, Rachel has really, really wanted to confess her love for some time!"

Okay. Rachel had better not kill me for this.

"What?" Melissa nearly shrieked.

"Shh! Cool it, will you!" I hissed. Then I nodded frantically. "I don't care if she's sleepy now, I'm going to wake her and then when he comes, I'll get her down as a surprise. Just tell him somebody wants to reveal a secret to him and he _has_ to come."

"But why now?" asked Melissa, even though she was super excited.

"Because – because she's been upset today! That's why she came over... she said she feels like there's no way a guy is gonna like her because she's so un-feminine-like sometimes. And it's tough for her because she sees how relationships are like, you know, like with her parents, and she doesn't want to end up like them."

Wow, I _really_ was getting quite good at this.

Melissa drew in a deep breath. "Okay, let me borrow your house phone then."

I hesitated. David would obviously not be at home. Crap, I had forgotten about that. "What if he's not home?"

Melissa laughed. "Don't worry, David's family is super into gadgets and stuff. His dad just got him this swanky _cell phone_. Oh my God. Who actually gets to carry a cell phone at this age, seriously?"

I heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay, sure."

I led her into the house, only to find that my mom was using the phone.

"Hang on, sweetheart," mouthed my mom.

I couldn't let Melissa talk to my mom only to find out that Rachel wasn't around, so I led her into the animal clinic to look at some of the animals. She was slightly fascinated, so I left her there for a while before I slipped into the barn to tell Ax and Loren that Melissa was here.

To my surprise, Loren was curled up in a hay bale, shaking very badly.

"She's been very upset," said Ax, worriedly. "She keeps saying that she wants to find Tobias and even tried to leave. I had to morph in order to stop her. Now she won't even look at me." He looked at the package in my hand. "What's that?"

I handed it over. "David's gift to Rachel."

Ax's eyes narrowed as he unwrapped it carefully. He opened the box. Then we both stared at its contents.

_Content,_ to be specific. There was a miniature stuffed rat in the box.

I shuddered involuntarily.

"Tobias?" Loren's head snapped back to me.

"She's delirious," I said, looking back at Ax. "I'm going to get her some medicine."

"Tobias!" Loren grabbed at my wrist. "I had a dream about you. I was so scared!"

"Loren, please." I tried to untangle myself, but Loren only gripped tighter.

"I dreamt you were being taken away by an old man in heaven," whispered Loren. "He had long flowing robes. He was like the guardian of heaven or something." Her eyes were almost unfocused as she spoke. "He said he's getting tired of games. He wants to end it, but only the person who started it can end it. I'm not playing any games with him, Tobias, neither are you... are you? Don't play games with people in heaven, it's not fun..."

I was about to tug my hand out roughly when Ax responded, "Who was he?"

I stared at Ax incredulously, but he looked really surprised by Loren's words.

"I don't know..." Loren shrank back. I snatched my hand back as her grip slackened. "He's translucent. Wide eyes. He's like a sage, only he has strange yellowish mist around him. His face, actually..." Loren moaned. "Not even a face... I can't even see his limbs, it's just robes..."

"That's the Ellimist," I said, coldly.

"No," said Ax, at once. "No, it isn't."

"Why not? The Ellimist can assume any form. Is it Crayak then?" I asked, slightly impatiently.

"Attend to Melissa, Cassie. Let me think for a bit," said Ax.

I obliged, but kept turning back to stare at the shaking Loren and thoughtful Ax.

When I got back to the clinic, I found Melissa gone. I panicked slightly and went back into the house where my mom was just handing the phone over to Melissa, who thanked her.

I heaved a sigh of relief as my mother left. Clearly, the absence of Rachel had not been revealed.

After a short while, Melissa broke into a smile. "Hello, David?" She grinned at me. "Are you free?"

I gripped the nearest item, which was an antique porcelain vase my dad had got from a friend many years back. Not a great idea.

"Mm..." Melissa laughed coquettishly. "Somebody's got a secret to reveal, that's all."

I closed my eyes and prayed hard.


	35. Chapter 34

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR**

::Marco::

I could wax lyrical about how this is all some super-benevolent, or should I say, super-malevolent creature who's screwing up this whole world. That it is all the Yeerks' fault for existing in the first place. That it is the Andalites' fault for not doing something to stop all this. That it is David's fault for being involved in this crap somehow.

But you know what?

It's my fault we even had to deal with David in the first place. If I hadn't made him feel like a piece of shit when he became an Animorph, he wouldn't have been so hard-pressed to take revenge against us. If I had just been a bit more understanding. Or better still, if I had managed to somehow get the blue box away from him that very first day I saw him and never embroil him in this right from the beginning.

Yeah, I know. Since when did I get so sentimental and self-reflective? No, wait, since when did I ever say things were my fault?

‹They're there,› said Jake, quietly. I banked hard to stall my flight as my sharp raptor gaze – despite nightfall – caught sight of two people coming out of a car at The Sharing.

David's parents.

‹The Yeerks sure are efficient,› I said. ‹C'mon, let's fly a little lower. Onto that lamp over there, and careful about shadows.›

‹Do we happen to have owl morphs?› asked Jake. ‹These eyes are getting bad at night.›

‹Yeah, we do, but I'm guessing now's not the time to be morphing all about.›

‹Well. You've had the fun of being in many morphs. I'm a little tired of this one.›

‹You happen to be the fastest bird on Earth.›

‹And I'm trying to take my mind off the real issues here, so humour me, will you?›

‹No.›

Jake let out a frustrated grunt as we settled on top of the lamppost.

"Is my son drunk or something?" demanded David's father.

"Sir, this is not a nightclub," said one of the Controllers.

"I know, it's The Sharing, ain't it? David comes here all the time, don't you know him?" David's father gave a hearty laugh.

‹What?› I couldn't believe my ears. ‹That rat comes here?›

‹Okay, this is getting more complicated and wasting more time,› said Jake, agitatedly.

"Always telling me how cool it is," continued David's father, "all the details of your activities like the billiards competition last month, oh God, that was superb wasn't it, I laughed when I heard about the stellar performance of that fifteen-year-old..." David's mother cleared her throat, and he stalled, looking stern now. "Well then, I thought I was called here with my wife to pick him up. The escorts tell me this is something serious. What's wrong with him?"

"Not crack, please," begged David's mother. "Not weed either."

Tom came round the lawn to meet them. He shook David's father's hand. "You said your son comes here?"

"Yes, of course," said David's father. "David Jenkins, that's him. He's been coming for some time, always telling us he's hanging out here and having fun. There was some barbecue and games thing for kids the other day, wasn't there?"

I felt my heart chill. The thought of David having been there when we were at the barbecue made me feel nauseous.

Tom let go of his hand. "Yes, there was. Please come inside with us, sir."

"What's this about?" asked David's mother, frightened.

"It's okay. It's... about your son," said Tom, smiling. "We're... very proud of him."

‹What's going on?› whispered Jake. ‹David's in The Sharing?›

"Hey, this is fishy," said David's father. "You know this is about my son but you don't know he comes here? And being proud of him at midnight?"

"No, no, pardon me, I thought you were someone else," said Tom. "Please, do come in."

I ruffled my feathers slightly. ‹Tom has no idea who David Jenkins is, you can totally tell that he's faking it. There's no way David's a Controller if he's doing all this shit.›

‹Okay, you sound like you know something, so spill it,› said Jake, a little roughly.

The Jenkins were already going inside the building.

‹Quick, morph to cockroach, we're going in.›

‹_Cockroach? _You won't let me morph to owl but you want _cockroach_?›

‹They're not going to appreciate owls in there, Jake.›

‹Huh. I hate it when you speak sense.›

‹What? I always do!›

It took a while for Jake to picture the cockroach once we were fully demorphed, in Spandex, on some pretty sturdy tree branches in the middle of The Sharing's yard. He ended up shaking the branches quite a bit, and could only count on the fact that it was a windy night that nobody came running out with Dracon beams pointed straight at our faces.

‹This is disgusting,› said Jake, in mid-morph. ‹AHHHH!›

‹Shut up!› I hissed.

‹Well, YOU try shutting up when – oh my God!›

‹You've done fly and you're complaining about roach? At least you're slap and stomp resistant!›

Now can you tell me what you've deduced, Mr. Holmes?› yelled Jake, once we launched off the tree and scuttled out way into the cracks of the house to emerge in the sitting area where the Jenkins, Tom and a few other Controllers were.

‹David comes here often,› I said. ‹But the Controllers don't know who he is.›

‹Well maybe he doesn't _go in_...›

‹He _knows_ what they do? Describing in such detail? If he doesn't bother going into The Sharing, why tell his parents he's hanging out there?›

Jake hesitated as he reported reverberations; I had to explain to him that those were voices and he needed to train his auditory senses a little to translate those reverberations into words.

‹There really isn't a need to study animal biology anymore,› said Jake. ‹Okay, so what does David being here mean?›

Above us, David's father was getting angry as the doors were bolted. "What's the meaning of this? I could have you up for kidnapping! Where's my son?"

"We'll find him, sir," said Tom, smoothly. "But in the meantime, be our guests."

At once, both Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins were bound up in chairs and gagged.

‹Why not infest them?› asked Jake, his voice slightly bitter. ‹Like my parents?›

‹They want to find out who David is. It's clear there's some infiltration of sorts on his part and they need to use his parents to lure him out, I said. And that just means we'll have David there in no time. Ha! No effort on our part.›

‹I can't believe you can infer all of that.›

‹'Course I can. Now c'mon, let's get around this place. I'm guessing the reason why David comes here so often is part of his plan to dissolve the Yeerks on his own.›

‹First things first, let's go to the backroom where Tobias was turned out from. That's the most secretive.›

We scurried over with Jake leading the way. Round the crack on the floor. Under the door and over the carpet.

"...crazy lately. Always so happy. If he thinks that's how to play the game, as the humans say, he can _screw_ himself."

"Magri Two-Four-One never used to care about The Sharing! And then just a few months back, he starts getting involved with such enthusiasm, it is very, _very_ irritating!"

‹Marco?›

‹What? I've lost you!›

‹Weren't you behind me? Over here, next to the lamp.›

‹What's up?› I asked, once I had spotted a roach twitching left and right before –

A door.

‹You see that?› asked Jake.

‹I didn't notice that there was another door in this room before,› I said, eyeing the cracked outline against the wall. ‹Must be invisible to the human eye.›

‹And how does a human get in then? There's no doorknob.›

There was a bit of a vibration. Suddenly, another door that was also previously invisible to us opened right next to that particular door and a man walked out.

"That's a nice shirt you've got there, Magri," said one of the men, sneeringly. "All stiff and clean and untainted from barbecue smoke. Nice try chipping in about helping at every single damned event when all you do is walk in and out of that place."

"I'd watch my back if I were you, gossiping about people all day," replied Magri. "As it is, you know you'd be fried if you tried entering." And he left the room.

"Son of a bitch," hissed the other man.

‹Two invisible doors,› whispered Jake. ‹That one _fries_ unauthorised people?›

‹Which door... hmm... fascinating,› I said, crawling next to the crack of the first door, away from the one Magri had opened. There was something strange about it though. There was a certain... I don't know, _feeling_, that was emanating from it. Like there was some kind of air-conditioner or radiating engine or... at the same time, the feeling of _déja vu_ was so strong that I nearly stumbled over.

‹Oho.›

‹Oho what?› demanded Jake.

‹That feeling. I know it,› I said, smugly. ‹There's this... _sensation_. Can you feel it?›

‹It makes me go all tingly. What's that?›

‹That's a Gleet BioFilter behind that door.›

‹A _what_?›

‹Jake?› I could have grinned if I had a mouth. ‹I think we've found the entrance to the Yeerk pool.›


	36. Chapter 35

**A/N:** I won't tell you how many chapters are left, but it's safe to say this story is entering a final arc as the Animorphs attempt to track Tobias, Rachel and David down. Meanwhile, I present to you Rachel once again; there is a **warning** that this chapter contains **psychological trauma** and **mentions of violence**; I know I haven't warned much in the past chapters (which I should when I go back to edit once this story is done), but I was feeling a little tingly writing this, so I don't want it to be too triggering. Read on if you may!

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE**

::Rachel::

It was impossible to shut out whatever David and Tobias were saying through that god-damned television. But hearing Tobias say that he would _destroy_ David sent a chill down my spine.

"No, Tobias..." I whispered. "Don't... don't be like me..."

Tobias had learnt to accept the predatory side of him a long time ago. But he was a bird-of-prey, that was a natural instinct. Him as a human? Marco used to term him 'dweeb'. There was no way, _no way_ that I would let Tobias become a monster.

Like me.

Tobias and David were talking. I couldn't tell what. I heard the words 'construction site' and the memories of that day came flashing back to me. I remembered how Visser Three swallowed Elfangor whole and I shivered. I remembered how I yelled at a Hork-Bajir and it came chasing after me and my heart was pumping so fast as I ran and screamed and now I was screaming out loud as well –

"AHHHHH!"

The wires around me cut deep into my skin and I screamed again.

The door clicked.

My head shot up and I could feel my veins were about to burst from the pumping blood within.

It opened.

A shadowed figure. Then a flash of light. The room was lit once again.

The moment I saw his face, I wanted to _die._

"Hello, Rachel."

I looked away, gulping deep breaths of air. Oh my God, _oh my God..._

"Wow, not being so friendly, are we? It's been a long while, you know. Thought I'd have a better reception than that."

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, feeling bile rise up my parched throat. I swallowed hard and cringed at the bitterness of it all.

David laughed and the sound of it seemed to pierce through my skin. He tucked what looked like a remote back into his pocket. "Oh, didn't you hear it all? Shame, I spent so much money trying to fix this system up and you mean to say you weren't paying attention? I thought you'd be more attentive to what your boyfriend is going through."

"Stay away from Tobias!" I yelled as I turned to glare at him.

"Aw, how touching. The two of you are always looking out for each other. No wonder you wanted to kill me so bad when you thought I had murdered Tobias back then."

"You want me? You got me. Now let him go."

"Not so brave now, are we, Rachel? Ooh, it's like the lion who lost his courage in The Wizard of Oz."

"And you're the tin man who lost his heart!"

"Still got your wits about you. See, I had to make sure you still had that so that I could have a decently fun conversation with you."

"You're psycho!"

David made a tutting noise as he walked closer. I flinched with every step he took. "Not as psycho as you are, Rachel. I see you took my mantra to heart. Don't kill a human. But an animal?" His eyes glinted. "BAM!" I shuddered with the explosive noise he made. "No second thoughts!"

I opened my mouth, but tears were blurring my eyes. I hated myself for looking so vulnerable then, but I couldn't control it. There was nothing in me that could spur me to say something that could cut him deep inside, because he had completely _torn_ everything within me... that bastard...

"You should see yourself now, Rachel," crowed David. "Such a pathetic sight!"

I screamed. He laughed even harder. "Oh, to let those god-damned slugs hear you in their bubbling pits of hell! It'd be heaven to know that their enemies, the so-called Andalites, are being ruined by a single human being. They'd _love_ me. They'd _worship_ me."

Just then, a sharp ringing tone pierced through the tension. David sighed and rummaged through his pockets to produce a cell phone. Even in my terror, it registered to me that David sure had the bucks. Setting up a surveillance system like this? And now a cell phone?

"Hello?" David answered, his eyes still on me. I looked away, shaking.

"Oh hi, Melissa!" David's voice had melded into something completely different – something more... wait a minute. _Melissa?_ As in...

I turned to stare at David, who was now a bit more engrossed in the conversation. "What's up? I mean... hello? Hello? Can you hear me?"

David pulled the phone away from his ear, then sighed dramatically. "Sorry, bad reception. Guess I'll have the chat with you again later, Rachel. I miss having such intellectual talk."

With that, he got up and left the room. I bent my head to my knees to stop my teeth from chattering.

His voice was the worst nightmare. It was the worst each time after a huge battle. It wouldn't be the piercing sound of Dracon beams or the smell of sizzling burnt Taxxon flesh and iron in the same room, not the roars of dying Controllers and Hork-Bajirs or the gory sight of one of my detached limbs on the floor. It would be his voice – his cries every single time. His pitiful, mournful cries for help when he first abandoned him, then his wrecked, pleading voice when I last faced him. And now he was back.

Tormenting us. Torturing _me_.

‹Rachel? Rachel, can you hear me?›

I sat up straight, hardly wincing anymore with the pain all over my body. "Tobias? Tobias!" He had to be nearby, a room not too far away, for me to be able to hear him.

‹Rachel, I hope you can hear me.› I trained my eyes on the television screen where Tobias was lying against the wall, head tilted back and eyes closed as he breathed hard. He drew the back of his hand past his bloody lip, then lay there limply. ‹I hope David's not doing anything to you.›

I could hardly control my breathing.

‹Listen to me, Rachel, don't _ever_ give up. This whole thing is a nightmare and I know some part of you probably feels weird. There's something David has done – he's responsible for this whole shenanigan and he seems to have made this whole thing quite twisted. Even us – I don't know how and what he has done, but I don't have my wings and... and I think there's something wrong with each and every one of us.›

He began to cough quite violently and I stiffened.

‹But whatever it is, don't let him get to you. You hear me? You're Rachel, fearless warrior princess. Nothing can get to you and that creep has no chance in hell. Don't let whatever's wrong with you get you down either. Do what you can – fight it, fight yourself, fight him... get yourself out of there and find the rest. We're going to make it out of here, alive and kicking, and we're gonna take that jerk down!›

I could feel the tears well up in my eyes again. Of course, he wouldn't know that I could hear everything between him and David earlier on. But the thought of him encouraging me to keep going despite knowing what a monster I was made my heart ache.

‹Rachel. _Fight._›

He uttered the last word so desperately, but yet so assertively at the same time.

_Fight, Rachel. Fight._

A queasy feeling was pooling at the pit of my stomach. Fear was pumping into my system once again. _No! _I couldn't let fear run through me. _Couldn't!_

"The Yeerks want us," I whispered. "Why would David tell the Yeerks he has us? He's not a Controller. He's not one of them."

_Oh, to let those god-damned slugs hear you in their bubbling pits of hell! It'd be heaven to know that their enemies, the so-called Andalites, are being ruined by a single human being. They'd love me. They'd worship me._

The Yeerk pool. It was here. It was nearby. We were in a Yeerk facility. My mind raced through all the possibilities. David would have to be a Controller in order to enter – _yes, _he was in another human morph when he first entered Tobias's room! He was masquerading as a Controller.

_God-damned slugs... in their bubbling pits of hell..._

Then it dawned upon me.

He still _hated_ them.

He still hated the Yeerks to the core, because they were the ones who had taken his parents away. They had ruined his life as much as we had. As much as he hated me, he wanted to be the one to bring them down too. After getting rid of us, he would use our captures to get into their good books, then destroy them from within.

_Fight, Rachel, fight!_

I was trembling so hard, but I clenched my fists and teeth.

David was trying to make one too many deals with creatures who had no respect for human beings. This was not going to be a pretty ending.


	37. Chapter 36

**A/N:** Here's a short chapter, the next one will be longer and much more action-packed! Meanwhile, enjoy (:

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX**

::Ax::

Loren's sudden deliriousness was highly worrying. I badly wanted to join Prince Jake and Marco on their attempt to source David out, or even attempt to search for clues as to where Tobias and Rachel could be hidden, but I could not possibly leave Loren alone in Cassie's barn. This was compounded by the fact that Loren was also my sister-in-law, of course.

I hummed to her as I kept her against the hay bale. She was now getting increasingly tired from calling out to Tobias and had no energy to struggle against me.

Not being part of the mission was making me think a lot. My previous theory of the _kithi maral_ – the unexpected incident occurring to a change in the timeline – was partially correct given that David's involvement during the time when Prince Jake and the others were at the construction site. However, David's appearance during Loren's and Tobias's near-accident seemed rather out of place. The theory also did not explain the personality differences.

Then Loren had mentioned the man in her dreams. The one who said he was tired of playing games. Now that I had theorised that this was all a game in which our consciousness had been transplanted into pre-moulded avatars, it was actually possible that the Ellimist could be involved, as Cassie had assumed. But it really was impossible that the Ellimist would have struck a deal with David. Also, the Ketran were not known to play games in this manner – in other words, using avatars.

The Ketran. I leant back against the hay bale as I thought about the stories my ancestors told. They were once the most intelligent species in the galaxy, but were ruined by that very aspect. The Ellimist was the only known creature of that species to have survived, and my ancestors said it was for the better. The Ketran had played with too many lives in the universe (for their games always wiped out one species at a time) and they could not have been allowed control for much longer.

The Capasins sought to end that control. Ironically, the annihilation of that species had only resulted in the intensification of power in the Ellimist as he traversed the universe in search of purpose. It really did not seem like the Ellimist to be seeking purpose in this one human boy who wanted things to be different.

The only other being we knew of who could have struck a deal with David would be Crayak. Crayak had once created an alternate reality where my human friends were assuming different personas. But they had no inkling of the present reality when they were assuming the personas of a slave-owner or a youth party general. Also, allowing David this much room to play with seemed very uncharacteristic of Crayak.

In short, I was sure that whoever allowed David to play this game was a _novice_.

There were no known Ketran survivors from the genocide apart from the Ellimist, nor are there sightings of another of Crayak's kind. Whoever this gamemaster was, he was slowly, but surely losing control of the game. He had surrendered power to David, making him the master of this plan – and thus, only David could end this game.

The question was, what did David want with this game? Only then would we be able to find a way to convince him to end it. If Prince Jake and Marco could not find the reason from David, then I had to find it from the gamemaster.

I turned to Loren and shook her. "Loren, can you hear me?"

Loren's eyes opened, but they were unfocused.

"Loren, I need you to tell me what else the old man told you in your dreams. Can you remember?"

"Tobias..."

I propped her up against a chair and shook her again. "Loren, please. Calm down and think."

It took a while. I hummed the Andalite lullaby again and slowly, she began to relax. Her mouth moved a little, but no words came out. Finally, her limbs slackened and her breathing stabilised. Once she looked like she had calmed down, I shook her lightly again.

This time, when she opened her eyes, they were focused.

"Loren, what else do you remember about the old man? It is very important."

She cringed and held fingers to her forehead. I knew her head must be hurting and wished that I had some magical ability to clear what must be a very convoluted mind.

"I can't..." Loren whispered, closing her eyes. "He didn't want me to stay..."

"Take your time," I said. But I didn't mean it. I wanted her to think as fast as she could.

She gripped the chair. Suddenly, impatience got the better of me.

"Tobias's life is at stake here," I said.

"I know that!" Loren suddenly snapped. "One loved one lost is enough for me; of course, I'm worried! Why do you think I'm clambering to go after him?" Then she tilted her head back. "But my head freakin' hurts! Do you think it's so damn easy?"

Once again, I was impressed by her. Many human women tend to go into hysterics when pressurised. Loren not only tried her best to break out of her delirium, but was also trying her best to deal with the pain of her head and heart. I wish I had gotten to know her in better circumstances.

Although the very fact that she had met my brother had already been part of the sequence of events that had triggered off this mess.

"Where's Cassie?" whispered Loren, still holding her head in her hands.

"Melissa is here," I said. "She is calling David."

"I'd wring that boy's neck if I ever see him."

"Rest, Loren," I said, finally. "I don't want to pressure you anymore, your face is very pale and it distresses me. Get some strength back..." I thought for a while. "And we can kick some ass."

Loren chuckled wearily. "You have been spending a long time on Earth."

"The television, encyclopaedia and Marco are very good influences."

"Uh-huh," said Loren, with a sigh. "I would highly doubt that."

"Did you know that the cow has four stomachs? Their digestive system is extremely fascinating and involves a complicated transfer of materials between those organs."

Loren smiled again. "I did know they have many. They chew and regurgitate some of their food too."

I stared at her. "You have read the encyclopaedia too?"

"Nah, it's just one of those things that you happen to know."

There was a silence, and I closed my eyes.

Loren put a hand on my arm, and my eyes flew open. "You've grown into a fine adult, Aximili. Your brother would have been proud."

I could feel heat inside me, where my stomach was. I wasn't sure why I was feeling hot when the emotion was pride, but I took her hand. "Thank you, Loren. My brother would have been proud of you too."

"I miss him."

"So do I."

There was another pause.

"Ax?"

"Yes?"

"I..." Her back straightened. "I think I remember something."

My body went rigid.

"Some... _where_."


	38. Chapter 37

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN**

::Jake::

My roach nerves were all fired up.

‹Yeerk pool?› I echoed Marco's words. ‹The one where all the slugs are kept?›

‹Aye, aye, captain. And that's where we're going.›

My parents. They were at the Yeerk pool. My feelers were twitching uncontrollably at the very thought. No matter what, I had to do it. I had to get them out of there. Marco and the rest didn't understand. The mission was important, but nothing meant more to me than the fact that I had to save my parents.

‹Come on then, what are we waiting for?› I demanded as I scurried towards the door.

‹No, no, it's more complicated than that!› yelled Marco, instantly. I felt him bump against my back. ‹The Gleet BioFilter activates a –no, JAKE, NO!›

There was a deafening siren! DANGER! Run, run, RUN!

‹That's the Gleet BioFilter,› said Marco, strangely calm. ‹Activates when an unidentified body enters it.›

‹Nice time to tell me that!› I gasped, turning around wildly as the two men immediately leapt out of their seats and swung out strange-looking guns. ‹NOW WHAT?›

‹GO LEFT!›

Marco sped right and I dodged left as the two men noticed us and began yelling to each other. But what was worse was that they had swapped those guns for something more lethal to a roach.

Bug spray.

"Andalites!" hissed one of the men. "I will KILL you!"

"No!" yelled the other. "We must catch them alive for Visser Three!"

I was scurrying in circles, loops, figures of 8, up and down, left and right... the chasing shadows were freaking me out horribly and I could sense that more people were coming towards this room from outside.

This. Was. INSANE!

‹MARCO, WHERE ARE YOU?›

‹I DON'T KNOW! HE'S RIGHT BEHIND... AAAHHHH!›

‹MARCO!›

‹GO, JAKE, JUST GO IN SINCE IT'S ALREADY ACTIVATED!›

And I just dove into the crack of the nearest 'invisible' door before the spray breezed past my back.

There was a thunderous pounding on the door as the man outside yelled, "Help me get this thing opened! Where's Magri?"

My roach body was filled with adrenaline, but at the same time, it was horribly weary. I felt like collapsing with my limbs all spread out on the –

This was barely a room. It was just a narrow space with something against the wall, and it was dimly illuminated by a small light above. There was enough space for a human however. I immediately demorphed, not caring that the men might open the door any moment – there was only one thing on my mind, and if this was the way to get to the Yeerk pool then...

I blinked as I demorphed back into tee and biker shorts. There was a control system before me with many lights, buttons and screens. I had no idea what this was, but I had a good feeling that this was _not_ the door to the Yeerk pool.

The other man had mentioned getting Magri to open the door. So this was the door Magri had come out from. But only he could access it. Why?

I pressed the power button. The screens began to light up – they were security cameras for the building. One focused on the lobby area where David's parents were still bound up in chairs. The man who was Magri was standing in the middle, speaking to Visser Three and the rest. What was he talking about?

My gaze shifted to the other screens. A few Controllers here and there... except for three screens. Empty rooms.

I stared closely at those three screens.

Something was odd.

The other rooms with the Controllers... I could easily map out which part of the building they were given the shape of the room, because the Sharing building was in a very unique geometric shape that had a lot of protusions in various directions.

The empty rooms... one of them was a room that I figured out was at the corner of the building facing the main road. But the strange thing was that I could not place where the other two was. It seemed impossible that they existed given their shape and – the lack of windows.

Why would those rooms have no windows? There couldn't possibly be more 'invisible' rooms, could there?

I looked up and down the small area that I was in. Each invisible door could only have that much space, otherwise the extension of space would be visible from outside. The Yeerk pool would also have to be...

Underground.

I stared back at the screens. Those two rooms _had_ to be underground. There was no other explanation for it. I stamped my foot a little and heard hollow sounds.

And realised that there was no more commotion outside.

_Marco!_ I felt my insides clench. Did they get him?

Morph. I had to morph to contact Marco and figure out how to get underground. Something small would do it. A cockroach might be too big for the cracks in the floor. What other insect was smaller?

In no time, I found myself shrinking as I focused on the image of an ant. I had no idea whether I had acquired a black or red ant, but I just went ahead with the most common option – black.

‹Marco?› I urged the moment I could thoughtspeak. ‹Talk to me, Marco!›

Silence.

There was a chill running through my ant body... and then...

My mind was blank. I began to sense something.

No smell in this room.

Food. Where could I find food?

Outside. Go outside.

There is light. But it feels like danger too.

I moved slowly towards the light. But my legs felt glued to the ground.

_Out._

No. Something's not right.

_Out._

No!

_Out._

‹MY PARENTS!› I yelled from the back of my mind, and suddenly my body went limp.

I shuddered as I struggled to control the ant mind. It was horrible! So blank and yet so filled with instructions. How could such a small creature have such a crazy mind? What in the world...

_Focus, Jake, focus! Now's not the time to dissect ant psychology._

I tested the movement of my ant limbs and crept slowly to the edge of the floor plank. Now I could feel it; the light breeze of air, like a wind vent. There was something below.

‹Marco?› I called out again. My voice was quivering.

I was alone. I was alone on a mission – actually, make that _two_ missions. Missions that I wasn't even supposed to be embroiled in at all. That I _shouldn't_ have been embroiled in at all.

I could feel my tiny ant heart palpitating like crazy as I leant over the edge slightly. The ant legs were sticking firmly to the ground so that I was standing perpendicular on the edge of the plank. There was a sliver of light and I had to jump towards it.

But light doesn't just mean danger. It could mean death from that height.

This was supposed to be some false reality, right? If I died, what would happen?

Tom and my parents were already Controllers, slaves of these heartless slugs. There was nothing I had to lose.

_Here goes._

‹AAHHHHH!› I launched myself into freefall. This was it. I was going to _dieeeee..._

‹Oomph!› I landed on something soft. My limbs cracked a little and I groaned at the sharp pain in my sides.

My first thought was: _I'm alive._ I never thought I would have to deal with that so obviously in my life.

Immediately, I focused on demorphing and found myself emerging from the threads of a carpet into a small room.

A room quite similar to the one above. A control room with screens.

"Great," I muttered, looking around tentatively to make sure nobody was around. "Cue Jake the technomoron to work this out. Time to best Marco with your sleuthing skills man."

The videos were the same as above, except to my utmost amazement and shock, one of the rooms that I had deduced to be underground, was no longer empty.

And there was no mistaking the person inside, curled up against a wall.

"Oh my God," I whispered as I ran to the door and opened it. It led to a dimly-lit corridor with grey patchy walls. The corridor curved at both ends, and when I ran to each, it led to more curves. This whole place was a maze, I realised, and I would be finding a needle in a haystack.

I had to morph to something that was small and nimble enough to navigate this maze. Something that could see in this light. But most of all, I needed to communicate via thoughtspeech. If there was one thing absolutely cool about morphing, thoughtspeech was it.

I began to shrink for the hundredth time today. Feathers began to sprout from my limbs and I could feel my eyeballs shifting. My vision blurred for a moment, then suddenly, it felt like something pulled it taut from all corners – it was instantly clear. It wasn't like it was a hundred percent sharp, but I suddenly felt like I was energised and this dim environment was my comfort zone.

I spread my owl wings and began to zip round the corners as I yelled out,

‹Tobias! TOBIAS! It's Jake! Can you hear me?›

* * *

**A/N:** In case anybody wonders why Marco tells Jake to enter the room with the Gleet BioFilter when he could be destroyed... let's just say he forgot (i.e. the author forgot when she wrote it, but she's now blaming it on Marco).


	39. Chapter 38

**CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT**

::Tobias::

‹Rachel, I hope you can hear me.›

She had to be around. If there was anybody David hated the most... it made me cringe to think that way, but I could only hope she was okay.

‹...whatever it is, don't let him get to you. You hear me? You're Rachel, fearless warrior princess.›

I winced as I slumped down to the floor. David's physical blow had taken its toll on my weak human body.

‹Rachel. _Fight_.›

He wouldn't hit a girl, would he?

But then, he was David. Capable of _anything_.

My mind was imploding from all the thoughts (including those I had to project to Rachel) and I felt so vulnerable, helpless and useless in this scrawny self. Poor sight, poor hearing and no wings. This was just unbelievably...

I blinked.

Then I stared hard. And blinked.

I stared hard again, this time longer. The tears came to my eyes and I blinked once more.

The doorknob. The colour. The rust on the edge of the knob.

The rust at the _edge_ of the keyhole.

I could see it.

Not immediately. But when I stared hard and long enough, I could see it. And I was in the middle of the room. What...?

My sight! That wasn't poor human sight. That was hawk sight. That was sharp and clear hawk sight!

I let my eyes rove around the room. The cracks in the wall. The cracks on the ceiling. I blinked again.

A flash of reflection.

A camera! In the walls!

David was using it to spy on me. I had to get rid of it. I refused to let him watch me suffer here.

I tried to scramble up, but a sharp pain shot up through my middle and I gasped and curled against the wall.

‹Tobias!›

My head shot up.

‹TOBIAS! It's JAKE!›

_JAKE?_

‹Can you hear me?›

‹JAKE!› I mustered all my strength to yell through thoughtspeak. ‹JAKE, oh my GOD! WHERE ARE YOU?›

There was a pause, before: ‹TOBIAS! Thank God! Okay, I don't know, I'm in some corridor which is going in all directions. I have no idea where the hell you are.›

‹If you can hear my thoughtspeech, you can't be far!› I couldn't contain my excitement. _Take that, you son of a bitch David! ‹_Rachel's somewhere around too, I know it! Umm...›

I pulled myself towards the door and jiggled with the knob. ‹Can you hear this?›

‹Hear what? No, I can't hear anything and I'm an owl, which really says a lot.›

‹An owl?› Even at a time of life and death, I couldn't help feeling jealous that Jake – someone who had no recollection of our real timeline – got to be a bird (as much as I hated owls).

‹There should only be two rooms underground. But why can't I seem to find any rooms?› demanded Jake.

‹Underground?› I looked around the room. ‹I'm underground?›

‹You're in The Sharing's basement!›

‹Say _what_?›

‹Okay, that's not the problem now, the problem is... oh wow, we do have a problem.›

‹What?›

‹This part of the corridor is super well-lit. My owl eyes aren't taking too well to it and there's very little whatever-you-call-the-stuff-that-keeps-birds-flying...›

‹A draft?›

‹Yeah, something like that. Look, I need to demorph, which means I can't thoughtspeak to you anymore... I'm just going to run around. Keep talking to me so I can guess where you are!›

‹Jake, wait...›

There was no reply. Frustrated, I summoned all my strength and banged against the door. ‹Can you hear me? I'm trying to whack down this door!›

Then I groaned as the echo of the banging reverberated in my ear. "Ow..."

Wait a minute. What?

I jiggled a bit with the doorknob. The sound that I processed was so much more than just the knob. It was the creaking of each turn, the squeak of my finger against the metal knob...

My hearing!

I put my ear to the door. Suddenly I realised that I could hear something in the distance.

‹Jake? Jake, I think I can hear you! Keep going in that direction!›

I strained to listen for those footsteps again, but it began to fade.

‹No, wrong way!›

The footsteps came back again and I started to get way too excited.

‹Come on, Jake! I hear you! That's right! No, the other way, other way – yes! That's it!›

Eventually, the footsteps were so loud that I knew immediately he was right outside. I banged the door and there was a bang in response.

‹YES!› I screamed in my head.

Then suddenly: ‹Okay, Tobias. I'm just in some random morph so I can talk to you. Do I have a morph that will take down this door?›

‹Umm.› I tried to think as fast as I could. ‹Yeah. You do a pretty mean rhino.›

‹Oh cool. I've always wanted to be a rhino.›

‹Uhh, Jake? How big is that corridor?›

‹Mm. Not very big.›

‹You're gonna suffocate yourself if you pull a rhino.›

‹Oh. Shit.›

‹But...›

‹But what?›

‹You can try growing the horn.›

‹I can – what? Grow the horn? Dude, I can't control the stupid morph!›

‹You actually can.› I sighed. ‹Great. Now I get to play the Cassie role.›

‹Casserole? Are you hungry to the point of delusional?›

I rolled my eyes and pushed myself backwards onto the floor, away from the door. ‹Okay, listen. When you morph the rhino, think of yourself as transforming into someone with a horn right in the middle of your face. Don't think about the rest of the body yet, just think of your head becoming a rhino's and just keep thinking about that horn.›

‹I could really make a horny joke out of this, but the thought of my head becoming a rhino's just grosses the hell out of me.›

‹Yup, no jokes please.›

Less than a minute later, there was a terrific BANG-CRASH! And a figure with a rather unusually large head topped with a horn barged in.

‹Hah-HAH!›

I coughed violently amidst the swirling dust.

Jake reversed the morph and lunged forward to pull me up.

"AHHH!" I gasped as the pain wracked my body.

"Oh my God, what did that jerk do to you?" demanded Jake, as he scrutinised me. "He _tortured_ you?"

I winced in response.

"Also, wait a minute, I wanted to ask – how the heck did you manage to guide me to where you were? The Sharing may look decently-sized on ground level, but whatever's underground is like a maze!"

That was a very good question. How was I able to have sight and hearing just like a hawk, and only starting from a few minutes ago?

But I couldn't waste time thinking about it.

"Now's not the time for that," I wheezed. "We need to find Rachel before David finds out you're here and I'm gone. NOW!"

Jake snapped back into action mode. "Right then. Come on!" And Jake swung my arm over his neck as we hobbled out of the room. "Any idea where to start?"

"Wait, how did _you_ know I was here?" I asked.

"I saw you in this room through a screen. There was some control room of sorts."

The camera in the wall.

I stared at Jake.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The screen... you said there were two rooms underground," I whispered. "Didn't you see Rachel then?"

Jake stopped short and frowned. "No. I didn't."


	40. Chapter 39

**A/N:** I actually think this has been one of my favourite chapters to write (: Hope you enjoy it too!

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE**

::Cassie::

I was staring at Melissa, heartbeat racing way too fast for its own good. I was still holding onto the porcelain vase on the side-table for dear life, as if the mere action of letting go might make me drown in terror.

"It's a secret!" said Melissa, laughing as she swivelled around with the phone, still speaking to David. "You've got to come over to find out."

Pause.

"You gotta go home and change first?" Melissa frowned slightly.

I quickly mouthed 'no!' and waved my hands for effect.

"Nah, there's no need for that!" said Melissa, winking as she spoke. "It's not like some big, fancy place that– I mean, come on, I'm at Cassie's."

Oh. Wait a minute.

Oh. My. God.

What had I been thinking when I asked Melissa to do this? _What was I thinking?_

_Naive, Cassie. Naive of you to think that you could come up with some big plan to get him out without your presence being mentioned. Great to know you had planned this ALL in advance._

"Yeah! Well, I'm guessing you figured it out?" asked Melissa, excitedly.

I turned away, cold sweat breaking out all over. _No._

"Hold on."

_No._

"Cassie, he wants to speak to you. I didn't give the game away, I swear, you've got to give him credit for being a good guesser," said Melissa, grinning.

I took the phone with shaking hands.

I didn't even have to open my mouth; my heavy breath prompted him to speak first.

"Oh hi, Cassie." That slimy jerk. "Long time no see."

I had trouble trying to keep it together with Melissa around. "Mm."

Melissa gave me an odd look.

"I've missed you," said the sly voice.

"I haven't," I replied, coldly.

"I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get me to show myself because I wouldn't have my guard up against Melissa. But you forget that I was the one who gave the package to Melissa. I _knew_ she would find you."

"You addressed it to _Rachel._"

"Of course I did. But then I found a better way to deal with her."

"_What have you done?_" I hissed into the phone, turning away from Melissa.

"Ooh, touchy, touchy," said David, sniggering. "Well, I'm just paying back in kind. You know what Rachel did to me, don't you, my dear, kind, sweet, caring Cassie? The Cassie who made me feel like I was no longer alone, that I had a listening ear, that I could live a better life?"

My blood ran cold. "I swear to God I'll–"

"The Cassie who thought she could second-guess everything I did, including getting my parents to The Sharing so that they might get infested with the ruckus they're making. But guess what? I've found them, and your plan is never coming to fruition."

I balled up my hands. It was a good thing that the porcelain vase was now not in reach.

"The Yeerks listen to me, you know," said David, with a soft chuckle. "It's so liberating – this feeling of them actually acknowledging me as one of them, even when I'm going to tear them down bit by bit. And in order to do that, I need to tear all of you down as well. You know I have Rachel and Tobias in hand, and sooner or later, the rest of you will try to save them and you'll be in my hands too."

"What's going on?" demanded Melissa, now extremely irritated by the way things didn't seem to be going to plan. They sure weren't.

"I will _get_ you," I hissed, "and _you'll_ be in _our_ hands!"

"Ooh, I forgot," said David. "You're an out-of-control freak now, Cassie."

I froze.

"But don't worry, I'm just bringing out the feral side of you. You know, the one your conscience tries to keep hidden, but occasionally bursts out when you're dealing with poor little innocent boys like me."

David was far more dangerous than we had expected. Somehow he had been able to manipulate what was _within_ us and could use it to play mind games. I wasn't going to fall into his trap. _Never._

"Thanks for doing that," I practically snarled. "I'm coming after you then."

I slammed down the phone, whipped around and saw Melissa standing before me, arms akimbo.

"Care to explain?" She was highly annoyed. "This isn't about Rachel liking David, is it?"

"You know, now is really not the time to–"

"Did you _use_ me to get David over?" Melissa stared at me incredulously.

"Maybe I did," I suddenly snapped. "But right now, you need to get back home and _stay there_."

Melissa was alarmed. "Whatever for?"

"Trust me, Melissa! Just this once."

"I don't like–"

"David's not who you think he is," I said, angrily. "He's the one making use of you. Do you know what was inside the package he sent Rachel? It's a stuffed rat, and it symbolises something dangerous and cruel and tormenting to Rachel, far worse than any kind of simple phobia in this world!"

Melissa's eyes were wide. "But..."

"Melissa, please. Just go home. Let me deal with David. I'll talk to you – tomorrow or something."

Angry and frightened all at once, Melissa left. I ran to the barn and found Loren in a deep sleep while Ax mumbled something foreign.

Ax carefully got up and headed towards me. "Well?" he whispered.

I was trembling; I had to hold onto his arms for support. "It's worse than we expected. David's a step ahead of us in everything we try to do. The plan to get him emotional about his parents failed because he's actually masquerading as _one of them_! He seems to be able to wrap them around his finger – God knows how! He _knows_, Ax, and he's got the upper hand with Rachel and Tobias... oh my God, I don't even know if they're still alive. We _have_ to go and help Jake and Marco... he's going to kill them!"

"Be steady, Cassie," said Ax, calmly. "First of all, can we get Loren to someplace where she will not be easily discovered in the morning?"

I tried to think despite my growing hysteria. "The... the last stable. It's empty and usually locked. It kind of stinks but..."

"It will do. Come on, help me."

We carried Loren into the stable and left her sleeping there, covered with a thick blanket. Once that was done, Ax held onto my shoulders. "Cassie, you must go after Prince Jake and Marco. They definitely need help."

"What about you?"

Ax looked grimly at me. "I believe I may have a lead as to how to put an end to this."

"You do?" I gasped.

"But I cannot do it alone. We must make David agree to end this as well, because he instigated this, otherwise there will be no use."

"But..."

"Cassie, do not let David's words get inside of you."

Tears came to my eyes. "This sucks, Ax. I feel like I can do it now _only_ because I'm so _angry_ and I want to _kill_ him, but it's also because he has done this to me. He's made me feel my anger and –"

"Cassie?" Ax said, gently. "You are not doing this for yourself, or for David. You are doing this because of the rest of us, for the people you love. The people of Earth, your fellow human beings. Deep down inside, you still care. That is something David cannot change. He can make you more aggressive and make you less thoughtful about consequences, but he cannot change the core that is your heart."

A lump came into my throat. "Ax..."

"Go, Cassie. We must hurry."

And as my arms stretched out into the wingspan of an owl, my eyes sharpening to rule the night, I kept repeating in my head,

_He cannot change the core that is your heart._

_He cannot change the core that is your heart._


	41. Chapter 40

**CHAPTER FORTY**

::Marco::

"Demorph, Andalite, or you will never see your fellow comrades again."

Err, ok. Maybe I should explain how I am in this current stage.

Basically after being chased around a room by two Controllers and eventually losing contact with Jake (that was brilliant, considering Jake knows _NOTHING_ about what he is really up against – I never truly give him much credit as you know), I had somehow run out of the room and headed for the first person in the way.

"AAAAHHHHH!" screamed the unfortunate target as I ran up his pant leg.

"You will stop unless you want me to blast a human leg off, which I will."

I froze.

The voice was unfamiliar. But there was a certain deadly tinge to the calm statement.

"Magri, that is uncalled for," said another Controller, stiffly.

Magri. The one who had walked out from one of the 'invisible rooms'.

"What is going on down there?"

Now that voice belonged to somebody more familiar. Visser Three, as a human, last spotted in the sitting room with David's parents and Tom.

"We have an Andalite infiltration," said Magri, calmly. "And I know that these Andalite bandits are actually quite soft at heart and wouldn't let a potentially innocent human being get hurt just because of their selfish nature, am I right?"

_Potentially innocent human being_. I could have snorted.

"Let me do it if you can't!" snarled another Controller.

Magri wouldn't let him. Of course not, because I would get killed too. But Magri sounded more skilled than I could give him credit for from behind the fabric of a trouser leg. He could easily maim the man without killing me.

I crawled down and out of the man's trousers; he immediately leapt back and drew out his own gun.

"Leave him to me," said Magri, sharply. "Now Andalite, let's attend a little party, shall we?"

So that was how I found myself in the middle of that sitting room, a prisoner just as much as David's parents were.

"Why are these people here?" Magri demanded.

"I expect more respect from you, Magri Six-Two-Four," said Visser Three, thinly. "Just because you are on your way to becoming a Sub-Visser doesn't mean that you can challenge a Visser's authority!"

"I wouldn't dare, Visser," said Magri, without a hint of respect. "But you know I report to Visser One and would want to make sure everything is accounted for."

Visser Three's lips curled. "They have been witnesses to an infestation operation. They cannot be kept alive."

"What –" David's father began to yell, when suddenly he shut up. Just like that. His eyes were wide open; then he began to choke and cough.

"What is wrong with him?" demanded Visser Three.

"Jason!" gasped David's mother. Then suddenly, the same frozen look appeared on her face. I watched her intently when she began to choke and cough as well.

Tom pointed his Dracon beam at them. "Let's finish them once and for all."

"No!" shouted Magri, startling everyone. "Don't be a fool, Iniss Three-Three-Five. They are perfectly healthy bodies and we will make them ours."

"But that's just a waste of time! And look at them, this is called healthy?" Tom retorted.

"Epson Three-Eight-Six can handle this," said Magri, nodding towards a Controller to the side. "His host is a doctor."

"That's a lot on your plate, Magri," said Visser Three, sneeringly. He turned to look at me on the ground. "I could also easily crush that hostage you have."

"Fine plan, Visser, until you realise you're in charge of Earth and that if you let an Andalite bandit escape through your fingers, I'm not the one whose head will roll." With that, Magri jerked his head towards Epson, who easily knocked out the coughing and hacking parents of David with the flat of the Dracon beam, then tugged them away to another room.

"I think this one is more important," said Magri, coolly.

"And what makes you think that it is an Andalite bandit?" asked Visser Three, mockingly. "It is a naturally hyperactive creature that aims to irritate human beings. There is a difference that you must not underestimate, Magri."

‹Demorph.›

Right. Finally someone talks to me directly instead of throwing third-person lines all over my puny body.

Wait. Hold on a –

My cockroach legs stilled.

‹Ooh, that's right, Marco-boy. I think you've got it.›

I stared up at Magri, an unfamiliar forty-year-old man's face with stubble and a stone-cold look. But his eyes were gleaming in a way that nearly stilled my heart.

‹You...› I could barely speak; I was so enraged.

‹See your cockroach feelers twitching, Marco... I know you can't wait to kill me. But oops, if you do, how can you find your dear friends?›

_David._

David was Magri.

No wonder he was so concerned about the visitors in the sitting room. He had dragged them to safety, not to their doom. He must have thoughtspoken to them to fake that whole hacking thing. But that wouldn't be for long. Visser Three didn't like people challenging his authority and David's parents could easily be killed in that room.

‹You heard Visser Three. He's not going to believe me if you don't demorph.›

Aloud, Magri spoke, "You have one minute, Andalite. Before I will not hesitate to kill you and your precious Andalite honour."

‹You think you're so clever, David? I hissed. ‹Passing off as a Controller?›

‹I should remind you that I am actually so good at acting that I could even come close to Sub-Visser!› David chortled. ‹My backer has helped me maintain the illusion of my Yeerk feeding in the pool all this while. It is heaven, being able to control so many things.›

His backer? David was sure doing a lot of manipulation with whichever omnipotent being that was.

‹Also, I think I'm clever because I now have the upperhand to bargain with many people. First of all, it's you, because if you don't show yourself now, you can say goodbye to your friends. But if you help, I can spare your life for a while, just to make sure your death is in front of another one of your dearest friends. That heartbreak is something you guys haven't experienced for a while, have you?› David laughed.

"You are testing my patience," said Visser Three, above me.

‹Then how are you going to convince Visser Three to let me be your prisoner instead of his?› I shot out.

‹Because I need you to get me the rest. It's as simple as that, Marco.›

‹And what good does this do? Turning us all in?›

‹Are you buying time, Marco-boy? I can buy you time to negotiate all you want if you just thoughtspeak to Visser Three.›

I needed to talk to David. I needed to get through to him. There was nothing more I could do, because with Rachel and Tobias at hand, he could easily get rid of me. They were enough fodder for the rest to go after David.

‹Filthy scum,› I spat, putting on my best Ax impression.

Visser Three literally took a few steps back as his eyes grew wider. Magri put on a cocky smirk as he aimed the Dracon beam more carefully.

Then Visser Three smiled sinisterly. "Well, well. A fine specimen of a morph, I must say, Andalite. Pity you are not very good at harnessing the escaping skills of this creature."

I remained firmly silent, but I pointed my feelers at Visser Three for effect.

‹I have my own desires, Marco.› David's voice interrupted. ‹Desires that were killed when you and your friends decided to make my life a living hell. I'm just paying back in kind.›

"We can easily estimate that you have been in morph for an hour. We can wait, Andalite. Wait till you are forever encased in this ugly body and be literally called _filthy_ for the rest of your life," said Visser Three.

"Then the rest will come and find you and realise you are a snivelling little coward," said Magri. "But it doesn't matter because by then, we will have them all."

‹Whatever you want, David, is not going to come true,› I said, urgently. ‹Nobody makes deals with the Yeerks. They are slimy through and through and you will _never_ get what you want!›

‹But they will get what the _entire_ Empire wants! The Andalite bandits on Earth! That is a great trade-off, Marco,› said David, his eyes gleaming once again. ‹And nobody can possibly deny me that.›

I was so angry that I wanted to cut him into pieces, that cocky little bastard. ‹Well maybe if you toss your little snarky ass into the mix, they might appreciate the spice too.›

‹Oh, Marco, Marco,› said David, laughing once again. ‹Always the funny one, little Marco. Though you forget you're not in control here. Do you really want to be in that ugly body for the rest of your life? At least Tobias had wings... oh, oops, I forgot. He doesn't have them here.›

As he said that, his arm raised. Magri's arm, with David's poisonous intent. Something about what he said nagged at me, but with the beam right in my cockroach face, I wasn't really thinking about anything else except to bring him down with hurtful words.

‹And you forget that this is also a Yeerk territory and if you're under Visser One?› I chuckled for effect. ‹Visser Three will be watching you constantly. Maybe your parents are a done deal. Maybe the secret room you came out from isn't so secret after all. And also, the two-hour limit? You're cutting it close yourself.›

I saw something flicker in Magri's eyes, but then he decided to announce to Visser Three and the crowd of Controllers,

"I'm bored. I have no time to wait for a cockroach to demorph into an Andalite. I believe his friends will come and we will have the party. I'm just going to kill this one."

Magri turned his belligerent expression onto me as he cocked the trigger.

‹So, Marco-boy, you have one last chance to show the Yeerks who the real Andalite bandits are.›


	42. Chapter 41

**A/N:** Wow, I'm sorry this took so long, but I found myself stuck in a rut towards the end of the story. If you find the whole thing about security cameras and secret rooms in the Sharing confusing, I apologise because it somehow twisted itself into something harder to explain than what I had visualised. Nevertheless, hope the rest still makes sense! Everything's coming to a head - who can save the day?

* * *

**CHAPTER FORTY-ONE**

::Rachel::

With the faint voice of _fight, Rachel, fight_ at the back of my head, I could feel a resurgence of energy in my veins. That was all I needed. Rachel the warrior princess never backed down from a little pain. She could see through this.

No, _I_ could see through this.

I focused hard on the mouse in my mind. The mouse that Cassie and I had morphed for her stupid science project when Cassie couldn't figure out why the mouse wouldn't get to the food. Those good old days when morphing was used for something as simple and innocent as that.

As I felt the transformations within me, at the same time, there was a slow, but gradually increasing tension around my skin. Then suddenly, an excruciating pain burst out from nowhere and enveloped me entirely. I gasped – breaking concentration – and ended up twitching so much that I fell to my side again. Gritting my teeth, I tried to focus on becoming a mouse again, but then my skin began to shudder and my head was spinning.

_Fight, Rachel, fight!_

But it was useless; the more I tried to concentrate, the more my skin felt like it was on fire. I blinked and saw more than double the –

The screen... Tobias...

"Tobias..."

And then everything went black.

-.-.-.-.-.-

My head was hurting.

It was _throbbing_. I winced, blinked a few times, then moaned as I struggled to sit back up again. The bonds felt tighter than ever and my whole body was so _sensitive_, much less exhausted.

Then I noticed it.

The screen before me had switched off.

"Tobias?" I whispered.

What – what had happened? Where did he go?

A chill ran down my spine. _What did David do to him?_

"Let him go!" I shrieked. "You bastard, you get down here AT ONCE!"

The anger had tipped me over; I couldn't care less. I thought hard about the mouse again and focused, gasping as the pain overtook me once again. But this time, it was more bearable. I felt a layer of numbness blocking it, because all I could think of was _Tobias, don't take Tobias, don't hurt him, don't..._

I was shrinking. I couldn't feel nor see it, but when the wires loosened up, I had to have shrunk. The pain shot through my limbs, but I gathered all my energy to shiver out of my bonds, only to trip over them and fall flat on my face. But I scrambled up soon after, focused on morphing back fully to human, and lunged for the door.

"OPEN UP!" I screamed, banging hard on the door. "OPEN UP, YOU FILTHY CREEP! THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME! DON'T YOU DARE TAKE IT OUT ON –"

The door opened so fast that it hit me in the face and I was sent flying back with a howl.

I could barely make out who was in front of me when huge arms were grabbing at me and hauling me off the floor. In my grogginess, I could only hear faint sounds and see blurred visions.

"Where... who..." I whispered, feeling all the earlier power seep out of me. I tried to move, to _struggle_, but there was no use. Before I knew it, I had blacked out once again.

-.-.-.-.-.-

_SPLASH!_

I was rudely awakened with a torrent of icy cold water. I yelped and shivered, clutching at my wet clothes all at once. Something was pressed against my head, but I was more concerned about trying to dry myself.

"Don't move," came a menacing voice.

My teeth chattered.

"Look who's here, Magri."

I couldn't see. The water was still flowing down my face and weighing down my eyelids. I could only feel the bitter sting of cold seeping through my pores and infiltrating my body with vengeance.

"Speechless? Do you think you could be easily granted access into one of our most secure places in The Sharing without me knowing what you are doing?"

"The room was made accessible for Visser One and her trusted allies," came a hissing deep voice, quite unlike the mocking one of the first. "You could have _never_ –"

I couldn't really make out what he was saying next, because the next voice I had stunned me completely.

‹_RACHEL! RACHEL, WAKE UP!_›

I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy.

‹Rachel, I'm the cockroach! Over – well, in the middle of everything!›

I struggled to open my eyes and the first thing I could make out was a blob on the floor. I assumed the blob was talking to me.

"You..." I murmured, but my mouth felt numb.

"She speaks," said the first voice, which now sounded disgusting. "So who is this human that you've been hiding all this while, Magri? Why is she so important that you had to smuggle her into Visser One's _private_ section of this place?"

"How did you even – _you morphed_!" The other voice accused.

"I noticed you seem to be very concerned about her privacy. You never switch her screen on unless very necessary."

"...how long have you been _following_ me?"

My vision was clearing up, and I had a good idea of where I was. Including what was being pointed at my head.

I stared at the cockroach incredulously.

‹This is going to be crazy, but Jake and I were here to try sussing David out. Turns out he's playing the role of a Controller – the one called Magri.›

I stiffened as I locked gazes with Magri. But he looked more shocked and agitated than threatening now. Also, he had a Dracon beam pointed at the cockroach.

"I also noticed you had the boy – the one who is Elfangor's son," said the first voice, whom I now realised belonged to Visser Three's human morph. "But my people report that he is no longer there. Where have you taken him to?"

I froze completely. But when I saw that Magri/David look positively shocked himself, I felt my heart start up again.

"No answers, Magri?"

"I am under Visser One's orders," snapped Magri/David.

"In that case, I now give you an order. Either you let me deal with that Andalite myself," said Visser Three, slyly. "Or I kill your girl."

_Your_ girl? I stared at Magri/David in bewilderment.

"Visser Three, I am merely trying to make the Andalite surrender," said Magri/David, with clenched teeth.

"And you can do it better than I can? You're not even a sub-Visser yet," said Visser Three, sneeringly. "You are not Magri at all! You think you can just waltz in here and hoodwink even the highest rank of Vissers? Well, you can fool that nitwit of a Visser One, but you can't fool me by assuming a persona of a dimwitted Yeerk and expect me to believe he can rise in the ranks so fast!

‹Son of a bitch!› Marco responded tersely, though I figured he was reigning his desire to shout it out at Visser Three.

I turned my head – deliberately not looking at Marco – and mouthed, _What is going on?_

‹Look, here's the deal: David wants to trade me for security for his _life_. That ass thinks he knows the workings of this reality because he _controls _it and so he's trying to have the upper hand here, but we all know how David deals with upper hands and the truth is that I don't actually think he really has that much control as he thinks he has...›

Marco was babbling; he was scared. But there was no time. I scrunched up my face in hope that he would understand, but he was still babbling.

‹RACHEL!› A new voice burst in my head.

I let out an involuntary gasp; Marco as well. The rest of the Controllers immediately reacted with poised Dracon beams the moment I responded.

_Tobias!_

‹Thank God,› came the breathless voice.

I let out a wet, shuddery breath. _He's alive. David didn't take him. He's alive!_

‹Thank God too,› replied Marco, and he actually sounded very happy despite the predicament he was currently in.

‹Okay, this is a sucky situation, but Marco? Mind telling us what shit you've just landed us in?›

‹What do you mean, _I_ landed you in, can't you see –›

‹Marco,› came another familiar voice, and I almost sighed out loud with relief. Jake. ‹Cut the story short.›

‹First things first, Magri is David the Devilish Asshole. Second thing, where the hell are you two?›

"I don't wait for traitors," said Visser Three, his eyes glinting.

‹Hello guys? Yoohoo?›

Magri had a straight face, but the way his lips were quivering at the end made me realise how scared David was. He had always been easily frightened; he just tried to act brave because he wanted to show how little of a pushover he was. But up against the Yeerks, he had no chance. Or did he...?

"Then I'll take my own orders," he said finally.

He was going to kill me. I knew it. My whole body shuddered involuntarily.

Visser Three stared at him. "And what does that mean?"

Magri/David knelt down and put the end of the Dracon beam right above Marco. But his eyes were on me.

My eyes widened.

‹Tobias! Jake! yelled Marco. ‹WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TWO?›

"No..." I let out a ragged whisper. The arms on me were far too strong and I had no more energy in me to expend.

Magri/David looked triumphant and I realised why. Visser Three had noticed my horror at Marco's impending death, and was now eyeing me with utmost suspicion. Magri/David then aimed the gun.

‹HELP! _RACHEL!_› screamed Marco.

But I couldn't.


	43. Chapter 42

**A/N:** In return for the long break, here's a much-longer-than-usual chapter!

* * *

**CHAPTER FORTY-TWO**

::Ax::

I flapped my wings as hard as I could. The only morph that could allow one to see clearly at night was not the fastest of flying creatures on Earth, and I lamented that I had not acquired a _egafit _(a night-seeing version of the _kafit_) back on my home planet to aid in this mission. But I had a goal, and that was keeping me from despairing.

_"Tobias..." Loren was murmuring in her sleep. It was getting more fitful. "Tobias... where are you..."_

_I was inclined to push away the emotions that came with listening to her murmurs. Humans have a strange feeling coursing through their blood when they are emotionally charged. It can be pleasant, like when I kissed Astrid. But it can also be very unsettling, like now. For Loren's next words were,_

_"Please, you have to save him. I'll do anything!"_

_She clasped her hands together, as though she was praying to somebody. "Please!"_

_Then all of a sudden – "NO! COME BACK!"_

_Loren sat up at once, eyes wide open, her face covered with perspiration. _

_"It is only a bad dream," I said, and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. When Cassie does that to me, it calms me down and I could only hope Loren felt the same._

_But she did not. She looked at me, her eyes still wide. "I saw him."_

_I was confused. "Saw who?"_

_Her eyes were now full of wonder. "Aximili..."_

_I jerked a little at her use of my full name. It was endearing and strange all at once._

_"I saw your brother."_

_"It was a dream," I said, flatly._

_"Yes, I know," said Loren, breathily. "But every time I dream of him, I can never really see him. This time I did. He let me see him."_

_"Who let you see him?"_

_"This man... he had a long white beard and straggly white hair. I couldn't tell what he was dressed in, but it seemed like there was nothing, yet something. Does that make sense?" She clutched at her chest. "He was young, though. His face... it was a young man with a wise mind. I could feel it."_

_I blinked. "What did he say?"_

As I flew, I could see my destination clearly in my mind. Tobias had once said the image was implanted into his mind by the Ellimist even though he had never been there previously. It was an indelible memory; the greenery, the gushing water... a pang of homesickness hit me, for it reminded me of the beauty of my home planet.

Loren had described the place in her dreams so clearly that there was no doubt she was referring to the Hork-Bajir valley. The 'young man with a wise mind' had been in the middle of it, gesturing around him to indicate that he was safe there, and so was she.

_"Come here to seek what you have lost, Loren." _ The man had said.

It was just a dream, I told myself. There was nothing significant about it except that Loren missed my brother. The man was nothing like the Ellimist, but then again, the Ellimist had been known to take on forms of all kinds.

Then, Loren had whispered, _"He said, you must come here to right what is wrong too."_

The word '_must_' was very unlike anything the Ellimist would say. The Ellimist never promised anything. He was a cheat and a fraud, but he would mask it with the illusion of choice.

This creature gave no choice. And yes, I was beginning to suspect he was no ordinary human male.

_"Aximili,"_ Loren had whispered, _"I want to seek my lost son. I want to right what is wrong with everything that is happening. Help me, please."_

How could I help? I was not the one with the dreams. But when she began to describe the place, I realised that I had to help her after all. Only I would know that place.

_"Close your eyes, Loren."_

And she had fallen back to sleep again, this time calmer. When Cassie had arrived, flustered about the debacle with Melissa and David, I knew it was the time to act on my theory. Cassie would find the rest. I would find the creature complicit in creating all these problems.

The Valley was shrouded in darkness when I reached. I was exhausted from flapping so much, but there was no time to waste. I landed and immediately demorphed (to human! The travesty of it all).

"Show yourself," I said, as firmly as possible. In truth, I was frightened of what the being could do to me, but there had been so many possibilities for us to be killed already. There was only one way to go, and that was forward.

There was only the rustling of leaves. The grass below my feet tickled and felt less comfortable and homely than I last remembered.

"I come on behalf of Loren." I tried again. "You must know who I am."

"You are not here for Loren," came a soft male voice, startling me. "I will not meet you."

I clenched my fists. "If I am here to seek what I have lost too?"

There was a pause before the voice asked, "What have you lost, _aristh_?"

The answers came immediately to me.

My body.

My home.

My family.

So many things! I opened my mouth to ask.

_Your friends, Aximili. Your friends._

I shut my mouth. My heartbeat had accelerated.

_This is not my war!_

I looked up at the twinkling novas in the sky. An uncomfortable feeling settled in my throat.

"What have you lost?" the voice repeated.

_Not your war. Not your war._

I stared at my human hands. Inside, the veins were pumping with red blood. The blood that carried the DNA of my friends – Prince Jake, Marco, Cassie and Rachel. And in the Andalite part of me, a blood connection to Tobias, my _shorm_.

"I want my human friends and I to be returned to the original reality," I said, quietly. My heartbeat began to slow down. "By coming here, we are losing everything that we have fought so hard to achieve there. This is not our world."

"Oh, is it not?" The voice had turned a little sly. "But it's ridden with so much losses over there, Aximili. Over here, your Prince has no more heartbreak, Cassie no more moral dilemmas, Marco no more distractions, Rachel no more violent and sadistic tendencies, Tobias no more parental troubles. And you, Aximili?"

I waited.

And waited.

"Is it my turn to talk again?" asked the voice, annoyed.

"That is because you cannot complete that sentence," I said, smugly. "You think by putting me in a human body, I will lose connection with my Andalite spirit. But you will never kill that side of me."

"Oh no, no, Aximili, not that strong, obstinate Andalite spirit. Actually, honestly, I don't know why he wanted you to be human. It's probably a sadistic streak."

I stared at the darkness. "He?"

"Now, what did I say?" mused the voice. "No, I suppose it's not a breach of contract. I can mention him without a name, can't I? Oh yes, he, him, he, him... this is exciting! Finding loopholes in a deal!"

This voice sounded nothing like the 'wise' spirit Loren said the being had; it sounded a lot more like the Drode instead.

"Who are you working for?"

"Keep guessing, _aristh_! I love games and this is going to be a fun one, I know."

"It is already a game you are playing and it is not a good game."

"Not when the one who conceived the game plan doesn't cover all ground and makes a mess out of it. Not my fault. I am a great game master."

A young, egoistic one. That I was sure of.

"Show yourself. It is very uncomfortable speaking to no one."

"But you _are_ speaking to someone. Hmm. In that case, I won't let you speak then. Do you want to thought-speak instead?"

"It does not matter which way I speak."

"Oh, but it is very uncomfortable with a mouth, isn't it? Then don't use it. In fact, take your mouth away. It is unbecoming of an Andalite."

I did not understand for a full minute. But when the wind rustled the leaves once again and the grass tickled at my feet, I momentarily wished that my feet were hooves again. So that the tickling would become more pleasant... that I could feed upon the nutrients in the grass to satisfy myself...

Ahh.

I stared at my feet – no, _hooves_ – and looked back at the darkness. I closed my eyes and focused hard. The bones in my body began to shift, and my heart expanded and burst into pieces. I fell forward – on my two front hooves. The tail – the _tail_! And my stalk eyes!

I opened my eyes to see my small, weak hands before me. My tail swished to the front, its blade gleaming, curving. I could have cried tears of joy if I had been human like I was a few seconds ago.

"Are you happy now, _aristh_?" the voice had softened. "Gotten what you want? Have I set right what was wrong?"

‹It is not enough,› I said, tersely. ‹My friends.›

"There are only so many loopholes I can exploit, Aximili. A game master of my standards is very, very capable. But when he makes a deal with the idea creator, the power of control is not necessarily with me."

‹Why are you exploiting these loopholes if you made a deal in the first place?›

"Because my idea creator is an idealistic fool. He thinks he can change his life with this new game. Maybe I thought he could at first, too. But then he got too happy with the idea. He kept interfering with the plan. It was not supposed to happen that way. He wanted to indulge in his childhood, but ended up nearly killing himself by running in front of a car, which incidentally held Loren and Tobias..."

‹Incidentally?› I chuckled in my head. ‹You may not be a game master of great proportions, but the Ketran always know what they are doing. The Ellimist gave the illusion of choice, but you play with loopholes. Is it in your nature to be such meddlesome creatures in the universe?›

"It's called survival!" the voice snapped suddenly. "Do you think it was easy for me to survive when Toomin had conquered half the universe and Crayak the other? I was always going to live in Toomin's shadow! Nobody would believe another Ketran had survived because one of us was terrible enough, two would be too much of a threat! Crayak would eliminate me completely! Even though my powers are so meagre – I can't do _anything _with reality. I can only _create _situations. I specialise in making avatars and implanting consciousness into those avatars. With that kind of power, I could only survive on making little creatures' dreams come true. When I came to Earth, this boy's soul haunted me constantly. He wanted to be reborn, and had such a vivid plan that I couldn't resist latching onto. Tell me, who is the _meddlesome_ one you speak of? Oh, and you are one to talk. You Andalites set a great example with Seerow!"

It was a stinging blow.

"And if you think I'm meddlesome, then maybe I should stop here. Because you are the one who was meddling with things. You were supposed to bring Loren along, but you decided to come alone."

‹What has Loren got to do with this? Bringing up Elfangor would hurt her even more!›

"You stupid _aristh_!" the voice raged. "Then she should forget him!"

_Seek what you have lost. Right what is wrong._

Then I realised. The creature wanted Loren to seek the life she had lost. The normal life she should have lived if it had not been for Elfangor. Just like the Loren in our reality.

"See it now? She is the only person grounded in this reality who remembers Elfangor. If she forgets, he will cease to exist. I will erase his existence, and everything will be changed immediately because everything about you children started from him! My deal is that I cannot interfere any more with the set avatars of each of you children, as well as the Yeerks. But I have liberty with the rest of the people."

‹David,› I whispered. ‹He has no idea of Loren's significance in this whole war.›

"Now that you have said it out, I am free to say that slimy creep's name too!" The voice sounded relieved.

‹You said you can't interfere with our set avatars. How did you return my morphing capability?›

The voice giggled. "That is my secret. I only reveal that at the end of the game."

‹Then end it!› I exploded. ‹You hate David. You hate that he is ruining your game. So stop it, stop playing along with him!›

"I can only stop if he decides to stop," said the voice, lazily. "Meanwhile, I entertain myself with loopholes. Don't you think it is fun?"

‹Then exploit it until we can return back!›

"And by the time that happens, Aximili? There already is no time for you to go back and get Loren here because I can assure you your friends will be dead by the time she is here. Too bad."

The voice now manifested itself in what was no longer a man, but a white ball of light, illuminating the landscape before me. It was like the moon had dropped down from the sky, but it was not overwhelmingly bright. I stared at it, mesmerised for a second.

"By that time, you will all be dead."

And then the ball of light exploded before my very eyes.

I shielded myself, then looked back into the darkness.

There was only one thing to do now. We had to convince David to stop the game within a matter of minutes.

But how?


	44. Chapter 43

**A/N: **To make up for my month-long absence, I've decided to condense the earlier-mentioned 'three chapters' into one single chapter comprising three different voices. Think there were enough cliffhangers previously, don't you? In other words, I present to you:

the finale.

(barring epilogue).

Enjoy (:

* * *

**CHAPTER FORTY-THREE**

**::Tobias::**

_"Tobias, honey, you need to make up your mind. Cheeseburger or pizza?"_

_"Can't I have both?"_

_"No, I only have one hour before I have to go back to the office for some crazy meeting..."_

_"What meeting, mom?"_

_"It's not so – AHHH!"_

_"MOMMY!"_

_"AHHH! OHMYGOD OHMYGOD..."_

_"MOMMY!"_

_"Did I – oh my God! Tobias, stay in the car – NO, I SAID, STAY IN THE CAR!"_

_"AHHHH!"_

The screaming was so loud, so painful... it was reverberating within me. I couldn't see anything more than the flashes of a boy being struck on the windscreen and disappearing from sight.

_"AHHHH!"_

But nobody heard me.

_"Tobias? Tobias! It's okay, the boy's okay... Tobias? What's wrong, honey?"_

I tried to speak, but she couldn't hear me.

_"Tobias? Don't scare me! Tobias!"_

She was holding onto my face, shaking it, her eyes staring at me in horror...

"TOBIAS!" The grip was so strong; I tried to struggle, only to find that the face before me was –

"Jake?"

I was in the basement of The Sharing.

"What's wrong with you?" Jake demanded. "We're trying to find Rachel and you zone out on me?"

"Sorry man," I whispered, clutching my head. "Something just – never mind." I could hear footsteps, loud and clear and piercing. "Crap, we gotta keep moving!"

Somehow, we couldn't find anything else; the maze of walls led us back to where Jake had first entered, with the screens.

"Dude, I morphed into an ant to get here, but you can't –" Then Jake stared at me. "Oh my – what the hell?"

A lattice of feathers were growing on my arm. I could feel tears prickling at my eyes as I watched them materialise.

"I thought you couldn't morph," whispered Jake, his voice filled with awe.

"I knew it from the second I could hear you outside that door," I said, as I began to shrink. When I finally got my bird body back, there was a tingling sensation in me as my brain switched back into its familiar mode.

This was _me_.

"You can morph directly from that?" asked Jake. Something in his voice made me think he was asking it because he _knew_ what he was asking. There was something about him now that I couldn't quite put a finger to. But in any case...

Turns out I could morph from bird again. Whatever David had done was falling apart now, and I was _relishing_ it. Jake and I morphed into ants and scurried our way up to the ceiling, through the floorboards and back up into another room. The ant eyes are pathetic, but we could somewhat make out the surroundings.

‹The wall is open,› said Jake, suddenly. ‹I didn't even know there was an opening here. It just looked like a narrow control room.›

I demorphed slightly just to get my hawk eyes back. My heart ran cold as I noted the similar corridor leading down from the opening. ‹Three guesses; he kept Rachel in there and now she's out.› Then I strained a bit. ‹Those dudes are coming up from there. This corridor leads downstairs; we need to get the hell out of here!›

‹This way!› Jake scurried out under the door.

That was it. Jake was more confident. More in control.

I would have smiled if I had a mouth.

I morphed back and followed suit, into a scene which to be honest, scared the hell out of me.

And that was how I found myself stuck in a corner as an ant, praying that Jake's formulated-within-ten-seconds-plan was going to work out. Hearing Rachel gasp and Marco shriek in terror was not helping; I desperately wanted to demorph, charge out and rake somebody's eyes. Specifically: Visser Three's stalk eyes, because he was morphing now.

But somebody was in a position to do something. Somebody who had taken advantage of Visser Three's complete distraction with the whole situation to crawl up his back. The morphing process would probably help to disguise any weird sensations...

‹Sorry I'm late to the party.›

Magri/David jerked back, his eyes wide with shock. Visser Three – midway in morph – was equally stunned.

‹I'd advise you not to move any further, Visser, or you might crack some bones while morphing. You see, I'm kinda growing on you too.›

Visser Three responded so quickly that he nearly fell over trying to turn and see what was on his back.

‹ANDALITE!› he roared.

‹Try to shake me off again and I'll grow some teeth and sink it into you.›

"This is none of my business," said David, sneering, as he cocked the trigger again.

‹Oh, it's plenty,› said Jake. It was my cue now; I scurried to the back of the sofa. Everybody was paying attention to Visser Three and the mysterious intruder now, while I was beginning to demorph. ‹You see, I'll be a bit more careful with where I was aiming that thing.›

"Oh, you don't scare me, big Jake," said David, but that elicited an immediate response from someone at the back.

"_Jake_?" It was Tom. "As in. My host's brother? But –"

"SHUT UP!" David was exasperated that everything was stalling. "That's it, I'm not going to –"

‹What's the point of all this then, huh?› asked Jake. ‹Taking away people's memories. Changing their personalities. Is this just about revenge? I heard Marco telling me you went to the Radio Shack with your parents the other day. Maybe you were trying to get parts for your great CCTV stuff. But maybe you were also there for a little Family Day.›

I could almost hear David swallow hard.

‹Someone tell me what this is all about, I'm stuck in mid-morph, you FOOLS!› screeched Visser Three.

‹And in case you didn't realise, David,› said Jake. ‹I'm starting to remember.›

I didn't know if there was any reaction on David's part, but the next reaction that he had was a look of sheer horror as I emerged from behind the sofa. I blew past his face, but my talons were raked fully.

David screamed as he dropped the Dracon beam.

Somebody fired something, but there was a roar from Visser Three and immediate silence followed.

And then there was chaos.

-.-.-.-.-.-

**::Cassie::**

I was flapping my damndest, but it seemed to take _hours_ to make it to The Sharing. Why wasn't Omniscient Omnipotent Alien making this easier for me? Was he about to drown me in guilt? Was he –

Something in me was aching terribly.

My friends, all of them, were in danger right now. Maybe they were dead. Maybe they were Controllers.

What had I done?

This was all my fault. I had ruined David and now he was back for revenge.

_No, Cassie, don't be stupid. Rachel was the one who got rid of him, not you. You spared his life._

_No, you banished him to an eternal existence of lost humanity._

My owl eyes spotted The Sharing, and everything vanished from my mind as I zoomed in on the target. I tucked back my wings, spilled air and –

They came out of nowhere. With the dim streetlights, all I could see was a ball of black hurtling towards me as I flew towards the building. I tried to halt and bank a sharp left, but there were too many of them. Their beaks were jabbing at me, their glinting eyes were boring into me and I screamed.

But no one heard me.

Suddenly, it was all quiet.

I stared at the emptiness before me.

"Hello?" I whispered, well aware of how pathetic I sounded.

There was a faint glimmer of light in the distance. I made my way to it, feeling a stronger sense of energy as I walked towards it. At the same time, the aching in me grew stronger, and I clutched at my chest.

Then somebody appeared in the corner of my eye. I gasped involuntarily.

David walked towards the light, his footsteps uncertain.

"No!" I cried, but he didn't listen. He walked on, and I gave chase. Eventually, he stopped and I did, too.

"David..."

"You know what I want," said David, but he was facing the light.

"And what will you give in return, young boy?" A voice came from nowhere. It wasn't even in my head, it was just _there_.

"It's fun for you, isn't it?" David sneered. "You get to play your game. I get to play mine. It's a win-win situation."

"It's also a complicated game you're trying to play," said the voice.

"I'll make it easier. I'll tell you what you should do specifically," said David. "I want them to suffer, so I want to take away something that makes them who they are. I'm sure that's a game of complexity you'll enjoy."

"What do you know about the universe, David?" the voice asked.

"It's a dog-eat-dog world out there," said David, coldly. "Spare no one. Rely on no one but yourself. Isn't that your mantra too? I can sense it, being in this state of limbo between life and death. You want to outdo your kind."

"It's only one of them," said the voice, sounding slightly annoyed. "There's only another of us left."

"So do we have a deal?"

"No, David!" I cried out.

This time he heard me. He turned around to glare at me incredulously. "Cassie? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Don't do it, David," I said, as I jogged up to him. "You said it yourself. _Rely on no one but yourself._ What kind of devil's deal are you trying to make here?"

David's eyes flashed. "Don't school me on your morals, Cassie. I seem to remember a time when I listened, and my whole life was changed." He leaned closer, his features hardening. "And not for the better."

"You want your life restored, don't you, David?" I whispered. "You want your family to be back together again. But these aliens? They don't make deals like that so easily. This being has no more family. All he wants is to win. And you're exchanging _everything _in this game..."

"That's all I've got, Cassie!" David exploded. "You don't understand because you and your perfect little squad still have each other, and still have your goddamn family!"

"And you choose to put the entire fate of humanity at stake for what you want?"

"YES!" David glared at her. Then his lips twisted cruelly. "Yes."

"Then you're naive. You can't protect yourself against the Yeerks with this kind of deal. You want to twist fate? You can dabble with the Yeerks timeline. They will land on Earth and with no resistance from us, they will spread faster than an infectious disease. And you and your parents won't be able to fight against them, even if you preserve your morphing power."

I saw it. I saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes. He opened his mouth to argue, but I cut in again.

"So you might figure out a way to get more people involved to put up the resistance. But can you really do it? You'll get mired in it again, and your parents will get mired in it, and you are going to lose everything again. Do you really want to go through all that pain again?"

"What would you know about anything, Cassie?" David demanded. "You're always so sure you have a way out of things, but look where it got you." He sneered. "Peace movement, my foot. That's your weakness, Cassie, you let your logic and humanity get the better of you. You –"

"Me coming here to tell you this, is living proof of why your plan will fail!" I gripped his arm, and he shook it off furiously. "I come from the time when you've messed everything up and your family is in the hands of the Yeerks!"

David stopped short. He stared at me. "What?"

He looked back at the light, where the voice said, "I'm bored to death here. You Earthlings are so complicated. Five seconds to make up your mind, young man. I've no patience and I've got other playthings."

"NO!" David cried, and he whipped back wildly to Cassie. "No, you're lying to me, I can do this. I can –"

"David, for once," I whispered. "Let it go."

"Five..."

"No, I can't!" David screamed. "This is all your fault! Rachel's fault! And damn it, it's all Marco's fault!"

"Four..."

He was still screaming. "I hate every single one of you! I'm going to make all of you pay! I'll –"

"...make your parents pay too?" I stared at him. "I promise you, David, we will rescue your parents and they will be okay."

David stared back at me, his lower lip trembling.

"Two..."

"David, _we_ are your hope, not him, not anybody else."

"One..."

-.-.-.-.-.-

**::Marco::**

_It's over._

I close my eyes. This is the end of everything.

I will die, not at the hands of an arrogant Yeerk, but at the hands of a broken David.

And a bombed plan by my good friends.

Figures.

The sound of the Dracon beam reverberates in my ears, and I jerk in reaction. The pain will come soon. It's already hit me and I will feel a dull ache, followed by a crushing sensation that will suffocate me...

That's how it is in the movies, right? I will win an Oscar in Heaven, there's no doubt about that.

At least I get to be myself there, not some dull, unamusing piece of shit here...

But there's still a whole lot of noise going around me.

What the –

"NOOOO!"

_Rachel?_

Rachel, for God's sake, if you're dead, can you not scream in my ear? I still want to hear the applause I get when I win that Oscar.

‹What are you talking about, Rachel?› There's another familiar voice. Tobias. ‹He deserves to die!›

I open my eyes. I'm human again.

Okay, I shouldn't have opened my eyes. Because now everything before me is just totally screwed up, and by that, I mean _seriously_ screwed up.

"Can somebody tell me why there're Dracon beams floating in the air, a few guys frozen in dramatic leaps only seen in cheesy romantic shows, one – wow – one frozen quasi-Andalite, and –"

I stopped short. A Hork-Bajir had his arm curled round David's neck, the wrist blade poised and glistening. I looked the other way; Jake was demorphing into a human, sliding off Visser Three's hideous mid-morph, while Rachel was clutching at her chest and _oh my God..._

"–and why Rachel is crying?"

"I think there's a more pressing question as to why the hell time has stopped," said Jake, his teeth gritted. "Looks like an Ellimist game to me."

"Jake?" It clicked in me. "You remember?"

"Everything." His gaze was lingering on one of the frozen Controllers. Tom.

"Tobias, let him go!" whispered Rachel.

‹Rachel, are you kidding me?› The Hork Bajir gripped David harder, making him thrash about and swear. ‹This guy has screwed all of us a million times over and he's not surviving here anymore than he is surviving in our reality!›

"Don't be like him," Rachel said, hoarsely. "Remember Taylor?"

"I feel like myself again," I said, even though I was still trembling from the after-effect of a Dracon beam point-blank at my cockroach face. "Jake remembers stuff. Tobias can morph. But there's still something definitely wrong with Rachel now."

"No, nothing's wrong with me!" Rachel turned a full-blown glare at me, and I shrank back. "I just –" Her face cracked again.

So did Tobias'. I'm not really sure what's going on right now, but I'm not letting some Romeo and Juliet storyline overtake this moment.

"If Tobias is not taking him out, I will," I said, and strode forward.

Rachel gasped, but then another voice broke in.

"No, you won't."

I stopped and threw up my hands. "Cassie, it's a really bad moment to be turning back into your old self now!"

Cassie appeared in view with Ax, who was fully Andalite. But her gaze was on David, who sneered upon seeing her.

"Hello, Cassie. Feeling the pinch now? Or is it a tidal wave within you?"

"It's over."

David narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

‹Your deal has fallen through, David.›

"What?" David's eyes were blazing. "NO!"

_I love to play games, David. You're right about that._

"Okay, who just spoke?" I held up a hand. "If it's God, he should do the right thing right now."

"You little turncoat!" screeched David.

_You let your emotions get in the way, David. You want people to lose their humanity so that you can gain yours, but it never works this way. You already lost yours when you made the deal. _

David's eyes were wide with horror.

_By extension, the universe should get rid of you because you didn't hold up your end of the bargain. I cannot continue with this._

"No..." David whispered, now frightened. "Don't..."

_Get rid of you and your lost soul._

"No!" screamed David. "I don't want that!"

_You're lucky that Cassie found a way so that you regained your humanity._

David stared at Cassie in complete bewilderment.

"I promise, David," said Cassie. "Your parents."

David sucked in a deep breath. Then his eyes narrowed. But before he could say anything, he just disappeared.

Into thin air.

Tobias backed away, shocked.

"Cassie?" I said, slowly. "What did you do?"

"It's just over," replied Cassie, tears in her eyes. "I wasn't sure... but he proved it. I mean, we'll never know if he repents or whatever, but at least I found a shred of humanity in him."

She turned to Rachel. "And you."

But Rachel's face was stone-cold now. She continued staring into the space where David had been standing.

Cassie crossed over to Jake and put her arms around him. They didn't have to say anything; Jake just leaned his forehead against hers, then pressed a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled back slightly to look at Tom again, but then Cassie hugged him tightly, whispering something in his ear, and he didn't look anymore.

Tobias demorphed, then morphed back to human so that he could take Rachel into his arms too. Her cold look melted slightly as he buried his face in her hair.

I looked at Ax, who lowered his head slightly. There was a grim satisfaction emanating from him, but at the same time, there was still a sense of heaviness. He probably knew everything behind this already, and we would hear the story from him later. Consequences, as always. Everything that shifts in this universe has consequences, he once told us. And we would bear it.

But for now, I was glad. Relieved.

_Time to go home._

-.-.-.-.-.-

_Cassie, I'm actually glad you are the anomaly. Because you are also the loophole that I could use to end this. Time does not seem to bother you much, does it?_

_Don't look so grateful. You may see yourself as having putting things right – I see this as cutting off a deal that would have been detrimental to me. I am rational as you are emotional. That still sounds like we may make good partners one day._

_Aximili, you are right. I play these games for my own selfish use. But I will never stop doing that, because it's my nature. Maybe if you meet my brethren again, you will mock me before him. One day, I will grow stronger and return._

_And then, my games will be for all to play._

* * *

**A/N:** Stay tuned for the epilogue!_  
_


	45. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

::Jake::

The morning sun had the tips of trees tinted orange as I clambered out of my cabin. I took in the sight before me, along with a deep breath. I hadn't really slept ever since I found myself seated on my bed last night.

It could have been a bad dream. But when everyone else had climbed out of their cabins to look at one another, I couldn't have imagined it. Ax had identified the being as belonging to the same race as the Ellimist, but that he was weaker and less able to manipulate, so he could only be a gamemaster to those seeking to fulfill wishes. That was all he said, although I felt like there was more.

Now was not the time to pursue this though.

I took the pile of logs outside my cabin to the middle of the camp area. I took a box of matches out to light the fire, but the box was gently pried out of my fingers. I turned around to see Cassie strike a match and throw it onto the wood. The flames curled upwards, crackling lightly. But I still felt cold.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I looked at Cassie. Kind, gentle Cassie. But I could also remember what she was like when she was none of those things. Alternate-Jake had lived with that version of Cassie his whole life and still fell in love with her. Would I, knowing _this_ version of her, have made the same choice?

It was all about choices, wasn't it? I made the choice to cut through the abandoned site. I made the choice to think of an alternate reality, giving David and that weird Ellimist-like being to exploit my moment of weakness.

"I guess," I said. "If okay implies coming to terms with my weakness."

"You're not weak, Jake," said Cassie, gently. "You – and every one of the others – are the bravest people I know."

I kicked at the ground.

"Look at everyone else, Jake."

And so I did. The rest were slowly filing out of their cabins as sunrays lit up the grounds. Rachel was clambering onto a bench with Jordan, both of them watching Sara run out to play alongside the little Hork-Bajirs. Marco was by the side of his cabin with his parents, gathering sticks and stones, and laughing. Tobias was making his way to the river with a few empty bottles in hand; Loren was beside him. The two of them walked on, not saying a word. Further down the river, Ax was facing the sunlight with his hands held out reverently and tailblade curved forward.

"They're here, safe and ready to fight alongside you." Cassie's soft voice drifted back.

I looked at her. "How did – how did you manage to get everything to work out?"

Cassie fiddled with her fingers. "I don't know. The gamemaster was strong enough to manipulate time, however weak Ax thinks he is, and he brought me back to the very beginning of David's game plan. The threads of time were undone when David hesitated, and so he ceases to exist anymore. I guess there was always still a little bit of human in David."

"You seem bothered by something though."

Cassie laughed hoarsely. "Maybe a few things."

I waited for a while, before she continued, "The gamemaster called me an 'anomaly'. He said time doesn't bother me. I don't know what that means, but it's got a very strong, unsettling feeling of _déja vu_."

Then she looked over at Rachel. "And I'm worried about her. She's going to pretend that it never happened, she's going to avoid the black hole that's eating her up."

I didn't have to ask further to know Cassie meant David. I never knew what went down between David and Rachel, but it seemed to have been scarring enough. The mental image of Rachel screaming at Tobias to let David go had been not only shocking, but terrifying in some ways.

Maybe I'd never know. My cousin already had a lot of dark spaces in her heart that I didn't want to open myself up to. I had already fallen into a black hole myself and nearly got everyone else killed. Everyone else whom I loved and had the ability to save.

Cassie put a hand on mine, but I didn't take it. I felt like I could see all sides to each and every one of them, all sides of good and bad that made my head hurt just thinking about it. Her hand, instead of radiating warmth and comfort like it used to, only seemed cold and distant now.

"It will end soon, Jake," whispered Cassie, as she withdrew her hand.

But she didn't say that it would go back to normal, because we all knew it never would. I watched as Tobias and Loren continued to sit by the river, silent and apart. Marco's crinkly laugh as he stacked the logs in the middle of the campsite, tinged with bitterness. Rachel, holding Jordan's shoulder a little too tightly. And Cassie and I, just like that.

I looked up to the sky and closed my eyes, letting the warmth of the sun envelop me.

**FINE.**

* * *

**A/N:**Just wanted to say a huge thank you to all who have supported this fic so far with your reviews and favourites! It's not been the perfect story because I've been bogged down by a lot of RL commitments and writer's block, but I hope the main essence of this story still appeals - in that it's really a study of all the characters that we've grown to love. Hope you guys have a great time, ciao! (:


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